


Nepotism at its Finest

by LucasApollo



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Business AU, Includes Ferdinand's Family OC, M/M, Minor appearances by a bunch of different characters, Nepotism, Online Dating, Ultra Rarepair Big Bang (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:54:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucasApollo/pseuds/LucasApollo
Summary: "...I have come to greatly dislike the nepotism that gave nearly every important person in this company their job whether or not they’re deserving of it. I despise that my father gave me my position rather than letting me find my own place. I’ve wasted too much of my precious time for this company and trying to make my father proud when I could have been doing some actual good somewhere else. It’s taken me far too long to realise that this company doesn't really have a place for me in it that I can take pride in.”
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27
Collections: 2020 Ultra Rarepair Big Bang





	Nepotism at its Finest

**Author's Note:**

> So I literally took a bunch of time off in August to work on this and Fodlan Frontier, because I know I'm a slow writer, and I thought I would have difficulty with making the 5k word minimum. Here we are now, with 26k and I could have easily added in a ton more. This is easily the longest thing I've ever written, and I blame all of it on Ferdinand and his need to be as wordy and meandering as possible.
> 
> I currently have so many little headcanons about this AU that there's absolutely no way I won't write something for them at some point.
> 
> This features absolutely lovely art by wonderful OngakuBeat! Check them out here: http://twitter.com/BeaRdezF
> 
> Helping me keep grammar and tense correct was the amazing VeloxVoid, without whom this would probably be a weird mess of English since I was writing for literal hours on end sustained on only coffee, vodka sodas, and protein bars.

Ferdinand looked down at his notes, brow furrowing as Hubert took all of his points and tore them to shreds in front of the other board members. There had to be something, anything that could help him save face before he gets laughed out of the meeting. 

Ferdinand’s right fist clenched where it rested in his lap. His plans were solid, his ideas smart and calculated and yet Hubert took him down piece by piece as easily as a scientist combating flat earth "evidence." It was embarrassing and Ferdinand felt like a chastised child with the condescending way Hubert talked down at him from where he stood near the head of the conference table. Next to Edelgard. The young CEO had said no more than ten words the entire meeting, her sharp violet eyes watching each speaker in turn while she let Hubert do the speaking for her. Ferdinand was still certain the two had a mental link of some sort.

"I expect this to be redone with my  _ suggestions, _ " Hubert's tone left no doubt in how much choice Ferdinand had in the matter, "before our board meeting next week. I shouldn't be able to counter your points so easily, and counter points should be at the ready. Really Ferdinand, you can do so much more than this drivel."

That "drivel" had given Ferdinand nearly a week's worth of overtime (meaningless with salary pay, he'd lamented to Lorenz), and Ferdinand knew that Hubert knew how much extra time he'd spent in his office on this project proposal. His  _ boyfriend  _ (of only a couple of months, admittedly) had broken up with him over this goddess damned project because he couldn't properly balance his work and life schedules without getting fired for being unable to complete anything. It was frustrating being able to barely have a social life. He could hardly ever go out to tend to his horse on the weekend for more than an hour or two, which was most definitely not enough time to give her the attention she deserved.

Ferdinand walked back to his office with his shoulders back and chin held high. He couldn’t show weakness to these sharks. He closed his office door behind him gently before leaning back against it and rubbing at his face with the heels of his hands while he took the time to think. Why had he taken this position from his father? He has his MBA in Project Management, and an Associate’s in International Business; why did he let himself take a position in a company due to nepotism when he definitely could stand on his own? There would be many companies that would be ecstatic to have someone with his credentials in their corner. Maybe Golden Deer Industries was looking for someone. The current CEO had finally named an heir in Claude von Riegan and he had some classes with the man – he was certainly no slouch despite his aloof appearance. Or maybe Blue Lions Corp. had a position open. Rufus Blaiddyd had recently stepped down after a scandal and his nephew had stepped in. 

Ferdinand sat at his overly opulent desk that had been his fathers before him. It was a deep mahogany, varnished smooth with not a single dent or scratch on it despite its years. Smoothing a hand over the top of it, Ferdinand let out a sigh. His father may not have been part of the founding of this company but he knew that he had been a large part in shaping this company for the modern era. His father wanted him in this position – even Edelgard’s father had approved of him taking over. He just didn’t understand why Edelgard and Hubert seemed to have it out for him. That last meeting was one in a long line of many where it felt like Ferdinand was being dragged over hot coals by his hair.

Feeling decisive in his frustration, Ferdinand pulled up a blank document and began typing up a resignation letter. It was nothing final – he would want to secure a new position first, of course. Not that he needed the money, but he needed something to keep himself busy and nothing felt better than using his degrees. His father would probably have something to say, would probably be disappointed after paying for his degrees for him to go and run to another company but he should hopefully understand that his son’s happiness was paramount. Saving the letter to a flash drive that he tucked into his pocket Ferdinand sighed heavily once more, checking his schedule and hoping he hadn’t made any plans for the evening. The only thing sitting in his calendar for today was a simple “date night” with a heart emoji. Not that it mattered anymore; no amount of apologies could matter if he couldn’t actually give him any of his time.

It was a shame, he had mostly liked that one.

After calling in his assistant and letting her know that he’d be staying late that evening and that she could head home, he grabbed a snack from the vending machine and boiled water for some tea in the lunchroom before hunkering down to rework everything he had written. He glanced down at the pot of tea he’d made, frowning down at the light pink colour. Chances were he’d need something a lot stronger than the flowery blends he preferred.

🜚↔🜠

Sundays were a single day of respite that Ferdinand took from work. His work laptop was packed neatly in its leather carrying bag next to the front door for Monday morning and he refused to even look at it. He slept in until seven in the morning instead of getting up at his usual five and sat on his back porch with a pot of tea and the newspaper to enjoy the morning air. Ferdinand met his mother, Arianna, for brunch at eleven in some high-end cafe downtown where the windows were large and bright, the pastries were rich and delicate, and mimosas were fifteen bucks per shining, crystal glass. It was a lovely place his mother absolutely adored. Ferdinand enjoyed it as well, his only complaint being their lack of tea selection in favour of coffee and espresso.

“Mother please, I can’t have another glass, I need to drive home yet” Ferdinand sighed as he tried to turn down her insistence that he have another mimosa. “Plus it’s barely even noon, I have lots I need to get done this afternoon.” He didn’t, besides going and visiting Astoria for the afternoon and calling Lorenz, but if he drank too much now he wouldn’t be able to ride without extreme nausea. Ferdinand had learned it the hard way.

“Oh are you seeing that Alex boy this afternoon?” Arianna asked as she took a delicate sip of her fourth mimosa.

“It was Eric, mother, and no, I won’t be seeing him again.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding at least somewhat surprised, “well, he wasn’t worth it anyways if he can’t understand that you’ll be working more than the average person. You’re a man with a busy position, it’s not your fault. I don’t understand why you don’t find a man in a similar position to you. Not in the same company of course, fraternisation and all that, but another businessman would understand your need to work.”

“I don’t  _ want _ another businessman, mother. They tend to be so...stuffy. I don’t need more of that in my life.”

“What of your friend Lorenz then? Don’t you find him too stuffy? He’s probably one of the stuffiest men I’ve ever met and that  _ includes _ your father. The man wears a fabric rose no matter the outfit!” Arianna finished her mimosa and set the glass down gracefully despite the amount of alcohol in her system. 

Ferdinand picked at an invisible piece of lint on his button up. “It's a different situation mother, and he’s just a friend, anyway. I don’t look for the same things in friends that I do with partners.” They had tried that during college, and had ended up deciding that they were much better off as friends after one date. “Really, you don’t need to interfere with my love life. I’ll find someone eventually.”

Arianna looked fond as she reached out and brushed her knuckles against her son’s cheek. “I just want you to be happy, Ferdie.”

Ferdinand smiled at his mother, cheeks flushing slightly at the public affection. “Thank you, mother.”

At the entrance before parting ways, Arianna paused. “Do try to come for dinner sometime. Your sisters miss you, as do Henry and Jenna.” 

Ferdinand doubted they’d said that directly, but cringed inwardly;he could barely remember the last time he’d seen the whole family.

“Your father’s out of town this week for business, by the way,” Arianna added, seeing right through her son. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Ferdinand smiled.

It was during the walk back to his car that he forgot to mention he was planning to quit the company. Oh well, he thought, if his father was out of town, he had no qualms with making his way over to estate for dinner with his mom and siblings. He could discuss it then and without the judgement of his father.

The afternoon with his horse was relaxing. Astoria was kept in the finest stables he could find within a reasonable driving distance, and she was well groomed and fed, and given plenty of exercise when he could not be with her. Despite him knowing that she was being well groomed he still took an hour to brush her mane and coat, the muscles in his shoulders untensing as he moved through the familiar motions. Ferdinand went for a long ride through old trails outside of the historical city. The weather was accommodating--not too hot or cold--and a gentle breeze tousled his hair while he took in the sights and smells of nature, his phone not even on his person. These times were for him. 

By the time he was on his way home, the sun was beginning to set. He felt completely refreshed and couldn’t wait to relax in the bath after some dinner with a bottle of wine while he took his weekly call with Lorenz. It was an excellent cap to the end of the relaxing day, and the best way to prepare his mind for an upcoming week of grueling office hours. Plus Lorenz liked to complain about Claude and Hilda as much as he liked to complain about Edelgard and Hubert so there was some fine mutual lamenting to be had. 

Some days it seemed that Lorenz was the only one who understood him. His father certainly didn’t, he barely even talked to most of his coworkers beyond things pertaining to work, and his unwillingness to date anyone in his field meant there was a gap between them from the beginning.

🜚↔🜠

“ _ Lorenz.  _ I’m  _ this  _ close to quitting.” Ferdinand all but whined. His bathwater was beginning to cool, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Maybe he should’ve had a larger dinner before drinking an entire bottle of wine, but he felt marvelous with everything slightly fuzzy around the edges while he took a weight off his chest complaining to Lorenz. “I even wrote out a resignation letter! I just want to find another job first, though. Do you think Claude would hire me?  _ I  _ would hire me. My resumé is  _ impressive. _ ” 

“I don’t think Claude would hire you-- _ not _ because your resume isn’t impressive,” Lorenz said as Ferdinand huffed with indignation, “but because we already have a project manager who is  _ quite _ qualified himself.”

“Yes, yes, I know you’re exceedingly qualified, Lorenz.” Ferdinand sighed. “It would be worth a shot, though. I looked at the Blue Lions HR website tonight before dinner and I saw a position that caught my eye. The ad wasn’t too explicit but the pay was pleasing and I fit all of the requirements. I think I’ll call tomorrow when I take lunch.”

Lorenz hummed, “I think it’d be good for you to get away from Adrestia Corp. Honestly, I’ve been in meetings between Claude and Edelgard and something just rubs me the wrong way. Hubert too; he makes me feel like I should watch that I don’t get poisoned.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Ferdinand laughed. “Did you know he grows a bunch of weird plants in his office? I bet that at least half of them can be cultivated for some poison or another. It’s nothing like Bernadetta’s cute little Venus flytraps.”

Ferdinand pulled the plug on his bath, finding it to be cool to be comfortable, “I just want something that’s my own, Lorenz, not something given to me by my father, or just because I am Ferdinand  _ von Aegir _ .”

“I’m fully behind you my friend. Now, I’ll let you go. I know we both have early mornings and you have an hour long routine you need to get through before you even think about sleep. Have a good night.”

“Goodnight Lorenz, I’ll call you if I get an interview.”

“Excellent. If not, I’ll talk to you next Sunday.”

“Of course.”

It only took Ferdinand forty-five minutes to get through his bedtime routine (take  _ that _ Lorenz), and he fell asleep within minutes of putting his head to his pillow.

🜚↔🜠

Ferdinand was on lunch break, his sandwich and small container of chopped vegetables lying forgotten on his desk as he stared at his cellphone, the number posted on the Blue Lions hiring page entered but not dialled. It was nerve wracking, the idea of something new; something other than everything he had been learned and grown up with. The hallways of this building had been familiar since he was a boy of eight, his father telling him that this would all be his once he graduated from university. But that was what got him feeling stuck, wasn’t it? Knowing this position would be his, without actually climbing any sort of corporate ladder for it. It felt fake. The familiarity left him feeling stagnant and as he approached his twenty-eighth year he realised something needed to change if he was ever going to do anything other than work for people who so obviously disliked him. Ferdinand knew he thrived on positive feedback and the lack of it here at Adrestia Corp drained him completely. 

With a new burning desire alight within him, Ferdinand pressed the call button and waited for the dial tone, and took a gasping breath when he realised he had been holding it. 

“Good afternoon, Blue Lions Corp HR Department, Mercedes speaking, how can I help you today?” A gentle voice came from the speaker, letting Ferdinand release some of his tension. 

“Ah, yes, hello Mercedes. My name is Ferdinand von Aegir and I am calling you to enquire about a posting on your website? It seems to be something that I am not only qualified for but something that is completely up my alley.”

“Oh wonderful!” Mercedes sounded actually excited to have someone calling about it, and Ferdinand could hear her smile. “If I could have you email me your resumé I’d love to set up an interview as soon as possible. The position has been sitting vacant for long enough. Just send it directly to my email,” she rattled off a simple company email with her name, “and we can correspond from there.”

“Thank you Mercedes, I’ll send it off immediately when I am able to. Thank you for your time and consideration.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all! Thank you for calling and hope to talk to you soon.”

“Likewise.”

Ferdinand mechanically opened his laptop to his personal email and attached and sent the resume he updated on Sunday to Mercedes with a simple  _ thank you for your consideration _ . If he over-thought it, Ferdinand knew it wouldn’t get sent until the next day at the earliest. 

It only took ten minutes for a response from Mercedes asking about available times for him to come in for an interview. Ten minutes Ferdinand spent fiddling with his food rather than eating it, his stomach rolling with more than the bottle of wine he’d enjoyed the night prior.

He considered an appropriate time and responded asking if first thing in the morning at eight would work. He could come in late and stay late to the office here, but if he had to wait any amount of time at his desk before the interview, he wouldn't get a single iota of work done.

Ferdinand's quick response was reciprocated with an equally speedy reply, telling him that the time he picked was perfect and including details on where their offices were located, and which floor and room they would be meeting in.

Rather than feeling anxious about the interview the next day, Ferdinand felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He’d actually done it. He had applied for a new and different job away from his family and what he knew. It was thrilling to be able to get and try something with his own merit. If he crashed and failed that would be just as fine as well because at least he’d  _ tried.  _ Goddess above, he hadn’t done anything for himself in a good long while, doing things the way his father wanted in a misguided attempt to gain his approval. It took Ferdinand leaving the family estate after coming home from college to realise that theman’s approval wasn’t worth it.

Before returning to his work Ferdinand made one more personal call to Lorenz to inform him of his early morning interview, of which his friend seemed incredibly proud of him for. It was a good feeling to know that someone had his back. He was sure his mother and sisters would understand his need to get away from his father’s shadow, but it seemed a difficult task in telling them anyways.

The afternoon passed by in a blur of document upon document, with the occasional meeting with Petra and Bernadetta to ensure everything was moving along smoothly and that everyone was on the same page. The project proposal adjustments needed to be completed by the end of the week and whether or not he remained with the company, he refused to let his coworkers and this project fail due to his negligence. He was certain that one of the two women would be more than capable of taking over his position if he left, despite Petra’s language barriers and Bernadetta’s lack of self confidence. They were both incredibly competent and would flourish in a management position.

He was going over a section of the proposal with Bernadetta when he realised that it was closing in on six in the evening already.

“Oh my, look at the time! You should be heading home Bernadetta. I’m sorry I kept you so late,” Ferdinand apologised. He was used to staying until the late hours but that didn’t mean that those under him should do the same.

“I-it’s really okay, Ferdie. It’s better when there’s no one else in the office anyways. Don’t think our team hasn't noticed you’re always still here when we all leave, and yet here before we all arrive. One late day here and there is perfectly acceptable if it means that you’re not stuck doing everything yourself. We’re  _ with _ you in this, let us take more of the work.”

Ferdinand had to blink back his surprise. He was so worried about what Hubert and Edelgard saw in him he hadn’t even thought about what his teammates were seeing in him. Was he really taking on that much work to himself? He was certain he was delegating well enough, but apparently he’d misjudged their willingness to take on more work.

“I’ll make sure to delegate further in the future, Bernadetta,” he said. However long that future was.

“You’d better.” Bernadetta tried threatening, but it came off more cute than anything, her cheeks puffed out and purple eyes squinted at him. She stood up from her chair across from Ferdinand at his desk and walked out of the office backwards, taking her leave as Ferdinand suggested. “You’d better leave within the hour too Ferdie. I’ll know if you don’t!”

Ferdinand only raised a questioning brow at her and she squeaked and scurried towards the door faster. “I-I’ve got m-my ways, you know!”

“I promise I’ll take my leave Bernadetta. I’m just going to pack everything up.”

Bernadetta gave a small, rare smile before closing the door to the office after herself. 

🜚↔🜠

Being home before his normal hour had Ferdinand feeling odd. Rarely did he have much time before he went to bed after arriving home from work. Opening the fridge to grab something for dinner, he realised it was mostly empty aside from some lunch meats and chopped vegetables. Had he been ordering out that often? He knew he had groceries that would cover enough for lunches but he so rarely ate dinner at home he usually just picked up something quick on the way home. Or skipped dinner altogether.

Today though, he decided to order some food from a small sandwich shop close to his condo. Feeling particularly lonely in his quiet home, Ferdinand pulled up the dating app he had met Eric and the boyfriend before him through and decided to open up his profile for another go at online dating. He never had time to go out and meet people so Lorenz had suggested the app he’d met his boyfriend on. So far Ferdinand had met two duds, but maybe the third time would be the charm?

He checked over his profile but decided not to change anything. His profile picture was a wonderful photo of him sitting tall and proud on Astoria, his hair blazing in the sun and a smile upon his face. He looked regal and was vain enough to admit that it was a fantastic photo. His likes and dislikes hadn’t changed, and neither had what he was looking for in a partner. 

The “look for matches” button had never looked so daunting. 

But today had been an exercise in doing things for himself, so he tapped on it just as his doorbell rang with his food.

He didn’t think of the app as he watched some mindless crime drama on his TV while he ate. He didn’t think of his possible matches while he went through his bedtime routine. It wasn’t until he plugged in his phone on his nightstand that he even saw that he had a notification for his possible matches. 

Intrigued by who the app had matched him with this time, he opened it up to take a quick look before heading to bed. The first one was a large blond man named Raphael and, judging from the photograph alone, he had biceps larger than Ferdinand’s head. His profile said that he was currently a bodyguard, enjoyed helping his parents out with their small business when they needed it, loved eating good food, and that his family was the most important thing in his life. Ferdinand is intrigued, but ultimately moves on to the next profile. He likes muscles, but Raphael looked like he could snap him like a twig.

Normally, Ferdinand avoided older men. They tended to be looking for commitment and Ferdinand didn’t know if that was something he was ready for yet, but the man in this profile had him second guessing his choice in avoiding them. The emerald haired man, Seteth, claimed to be nine years older than Ferdinand, but didn’t look a day over thirty. He was looking for casual companionship to start with, as he was a widower, but was finally ready to move on. He had a sixteen year old daughter that meant the world to him, and worked for the church as a pastor. He didn’t mean to be fickle, but Ferdinand didn’t think he could date a preacher. He believed in the goddess, went to church on the important holidays, but it wasn’t a large part of his daily life like it would be for this man. 

The next profile didn’t have a single face in any of the photos, only a shirtless upper body with a pack of abs that Ferdinand would have liked to map out with his tongue. He had to shift his slacks before continuing on as they’d started to get a little tight. The name on the profile was Alexandre and he claimed to want someone to get to know “ _ the real him _ ” before revealing his face. He was a couple of years younger than Ferdinand, several inches taller than him, and was apparently a busy businessman. Normally that would have Ferdinand immediately moving on to the next profile, but what his mother said the day prior weighed on his mind. Despite seeming like a possible catfish (Lorenz had warned him about those, luckily), Ferdinand opted to send this man a message. It should have been easy enough to clear up if he was one or not.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Pardon me for asking, but I must make sure your profile isn’t fake before I continue to message you. If you could send a photo of yourself shirtless in the same place as your first profile picture, holding up a piece of paper that reads “earl grey tea” I would sincerely appreciate it. You don’t need to show your face, but you seem like you could be a good match and I too am a “busy businessman” who has no time to waste on false pretenses. _

Ferdinand turned off his phone screen and set it atop his bedside table before he spent too much time thinking about what he just sent. He could barely believe he even sent the man a message without seeing his face but his body  _ was _ incredibly attractive and if his profile wasn’t fake he seemed like a catch. He spent his last moments hoping this man is actually a real person. 

The alarm went off at its usual four despite Ferdinand not needing to be anywhere until eight. After some quick searching the previous day he had found out that the drive should hopefully take a half an hour, so he had planned to leave at quarter after seven. Grabbing his phone from its charger, Ferdinand went about his normal morning routine that had him sitting at his kitchen table with a pot of Seiros tea,ready to read the news by five thirty. He unlocked his phone to pull up Garreg Mach Times, but noticed first that he had a notification from the dating app. Curious, Ferdinand opened it only to see that Alexandre had messaged him back at five in the morning.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ It is no trouble at all if it assauges your worries, Ferdinand. My friend had warned me of the danger of these “catfish” when he made me this profile, and I find it understandable that others would feel just as worried. Would you mind sending me a photo of yourself as well? Holding a sheet of paper that reads “swords and spears.” _

__

_ [Attached to the message was a photo of a man who clearly had the same body as the one in the profile pictures. His face was hidden beneath the edge of the photos, but he was holding up a piece of paper with the words “earl grey tea” written on it in beautiful cursive] _

Ferdinand found his mouth suddenly dry. Alexandre was a real person, and his use of proper grammar and punctuation was just as attractive as those delicious abs. He had tolerated a lack of it for the sake of finding someone previously, but it was always such a pleasure to see it. He rushed over to a console table next to his landline where he knew a blank notepad and pen sat. He was careful in his writing, mindful of it in a way he hadn’t been in years. Alexandre had such beautiful handwriting it felt like it would be wrong to not try and return the same. 

He debated where to take the photo, looking around the first floor of his abode; nothing  _ too _ fancy in the background – he didn’t want to look like he was trying too hard, but natural lighting would work wonders on his hair and the sun was just peaking over the horizon. He settled on the wingback chair in front of the east facing window. With the front facing camera as his mirror, Ferdinand fiddled with his hair even though he knew it was fine, carefully angling himself so that the sunrise turned his ginger hair into a dazzling fire. Holding up the carefully written up note and putting on a well practiced smile, Ferdinand took the photo. He only looked at it for a moment to ensure that it was in focus and not shaky before he sent it off with a quick message to Alexandre, otherwise he could spend way too much time fiddling around with all of the fancy filters his phone had. 

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ My friend had given the same kind of warning to me when helping me get all of this set up, so it is no bother to me at all to return the favour. _

Ferdinand was surprised to see the three little dots showing that Alexandre was responding near immediately as he made his way back to the kitchen table.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I am sure you’ve heard this often enough, but I must tell you that you are absolutely stunning. I haven’t been on this website long, but you are the most beautiful person I have come across so far. _

Ferdinand couldn’t help but blush. He was certain that these were just flowery words meant to flatter him, but they felt so earnest that he couldn’t help but wish that there was no lie in there. 

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Oh you flatterer, I bet you say that to all the pretty men. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ And despite not seeing your face, if your body is any sort of indicator you must be quite the looker yourself. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I have been told that I am, but I apparently just can’t see what they see.I think I’m average myself.  _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I apologise, I didn’t mean to shut down your compliment. I am very flattered that you find me attractive, even without a photo of my face. I manage to stay fit with my hobbies but with my current position I’ve become much busier and haven’t had the time to maintain them as often as I’d like.  _

Ferdinand frowned. Such a looker and low self esteem? That wouldn’t do at all.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I assure you, I find you  _ very _ attractive. It was a good thing that I was home when I looked through your profile because my reaction was quite indecent. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ What sorts of hobbies are you into that give you abs like  _ that?  _ I’m lucky enough to keep trim by watching what I eat and horseback riding but I have definitely lost the muscle definition that I had when I was younger. _

When Ferdinand didn’t receive a reply for a couple of minutes, he returned to his tea and switched over to his news app. He hoped he hadn’t come across as too forward. He just wanted to tell the truth about what he had really thought about his body. He lost himself in the journalist's words in the business section until he realised that it was a few minutes after seven and he needed to get ready to leave for the interview.

Ferdinand took a steadying breath as he signed his license plate into the visitor log and made his way to the stairs. He wasmeeting Mercedes in a third floor conference room, and he was glad that they wouldn’t be stuffed into an office.

Who Ferdinand can only assume was Mercedes was already sitting in the room, enjoying a cup of something steaming when he walked into the room after knocking. She stood up,straightened out her beige skirt, and brushed down her white, ruffled blouse before raising a hand to shake. “Good morning, you must be Ferdinand, yes?”

Ferdinand grabbed her hand firmly, giving a prompt two shakes before letting go. “Indeed, Ferdinand von Aegir, pleasure to meet you Ms...Mrs...von Martritz?”

Mercedes giggled at his slight stumble, and gestured for them to take a seat after offering him a beverage or a small snack. Ferdinand declined both. “Mercedes is just fine. May I call you Ferdinand?”

“Of course you may, Mercedes.”

“Excellent!” Mercedes neatened out the small stack of paper in front of her and smiled. “Let’s get started now, shall we?”

🜚↔🜠

The interview was going well, Ferdinand thought; the questions were easy enough to answer and Mercedes seemed impressed with his answers. They discussed expectations in terms of benefits, vacation, and pay. Ferdinand didn’t even have to undervalue himself, she accepted all of his terms even though he was certain she was going to counter offer on the four weeks of vacation he had asked for. It was almost suspicious how easily she was agreeing to everything. This was either a total trap (although he’d never heard anything negative about the hiring practices of Blue Lions Corp or how it treated its employees) or they were incredibly desperate to fill this position, of which Ferdinand realised he didn’t even know the title of.

It was nearing the end of the interview, when Ferdinand was hired in all but paperwork, that he asked, “I’m sorry, but the website wasn’t too explicit on what the purview of the position will be, would you be willing to clarify that for me?”

Mercedes smiled gently, “of course! On paper you’ll be the assistant to Mr. Blaiddyd, but really you’ll be more of a mentor: helping handle all of the daily affairs of running a business, helping run projects, advising Mr. Blaiddyd, attending board meetings with him and so much more. I was being completely truthful when I said that your experience was a great asset, and why the job listing had the requirements it did. And before you ask, he wants an outsider's opinion on things, and completely trusts my judgement on the matter, and that judgement is that you’re a perfect fit for the job. 

Ferdinand put on a carefully-curated business smile, “I’m incredibly flattered that you think so Mercedes, but I’m not so sure this is within the scope of my experience. I am a Senior Project Manager, not an executive, and at a financial corporation at that.”

“You have an Associate’s in International Business, don’t you? You’ll be fine.”

“An Associate’s I have been unable to put into practice--”

“Plus, it’s more the social aspect that needs guidance than anything. Mr. Blaiddyd understands numbers alright, but people? He could really use all of the help he can get.”

Ferdinand mulled it over for several moments. Really, what was the worst that could happen? Besides failing miserably and getting fired and being unable to find another job and needing to move in back to the estate and facing disappointment from his parents--

No, it wouldn’t happen that way. For he was Ferdinand von Aegir and he was a  _ perfectionist _ . This would go swimmingly – he would take to being a mentor like a fish to water. He would get away from Adrestia’s nepotism and make a name for himself outside of his family.

“I’ll do it,” Ferdinand said, a lot more confidently than he felt. 

Mercedes smiled like she knew all along that he would take the job. “Excellent! I’ll take you up to meet Mr. Blaiddyd before his ten o’clock meeting.”

“Are you certain now is a good time? Mr. Blaiddyd must be an incredibly busy man,” Ferdinand felt the pit of anxiety settle in his stomach. He knew he needed to meet Mr. Blaiddyd at some point if he was going to be working alongside him, but right now?

“Now is just as good a time as any. I told Mrs. Galatea not to schedule anything until ten for this specific reason. Mr. Blaiddyd is probably just going through current project timelines.” Mercedes picked up the phone and dialled an extension number, which was picked up near immediately. “Ms. Galatea, would you please let Mr. Blaiddyd know that I’m bringing up his new assistant?” A pause. “Of course, thank you.”

Mercedes led Ferdinand out of the HR department back to the lobby where several gleaming silver elevators sat. Entering one, Mercedes scanned her keycard and entered a pin before hitting the top floor button. Then they were off, gliding smoothly upwards. Adrestia Corp was a far cry away in terms of technological security, which they made up for with Caspar and his security team, but Blue Lions Corp was a tech company first and foremost and it showed.

“The top two floors are where all of the executive offices are held. You’ll get your own office at some point, but I assume you’ll be sharing Mr. Blaiddyd’s with him more often than not, so hm, maybe scratch that. We can put an extra desk in his office. There’s certainly enough space. We’ll also get you your keycard and pin set up on your first day, which we haven’t decided yet, have we? What is the soonest available date for you to begin?”

“If I give Adrestia my notice today, I can begin in two weeks.” Ferdinand wasn’t sure how easy it would be to give his notice to Hubert and Edelgard, but he could make it work – he was sure of it.

Mercedes’ gentle smile faltered slightly at that. “I know I’d prefer to have you sooner than later, but I’ll take what I can get.”

The elevator reached the top floor, the doors opening to a lavish wide hallway. The floor tiles were shining, the walls a rich, deep blue with hardwood panelling, and there was enough modern art to fill a small gallery. A set of white couches and armchairs lined the sides for people to wait for meetings and appointments, without a single mark or stray piece of lint upon them. There were only three doors that he could see on this floor. A man that Ferdinand hadn’t even noticed at first (and he didn’t understand  _ how _ he hadn’t noticed him, when the man was well over six feet tall and bulky with muscles) stood just outside the elevator, as silent and still as a statue.

“Good morning Mr. Molinaro!” Mercedes greeted. Mr. Molinaro only nodded at the greeting, but Ferdinand could see the faintest of smiles on his face. “This is Ferdinand von Aegir,” Mercedes gestured a hand out towards Ferdinand. “He’ll be Dimitri’s new assistant.”

Dedue gave Ferdinand an appraising look before nodding once more. “Most excellent to meet you, Mr. von Aegir,” he said with a deep timbre.

“And a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Molinaro,” Ferdinand returned.

Mercedes continued walking on past him, Ferdinand following. “Mr. Molinaro is our Head of Security. He mainly takes care of Mr. Blaiddyd himself, but he schedules and maintains the entire building’s security as well. He may look intimidating, but he’s basically a giant teddy bear unless you threaten Mr. Blaiddyd in any way.”

They reached near the end of the hallway, where a sharp-looking blonde woman sat at a white and glass desk with a couple of tablets, a cell phone, and a seemingly floating monitor screen occupying her desk, all sat before a set of hardwood double doors.

“Good morning Mrs. Galatea, this is Ferdinand von Aegir, Dimitri’s new assistant. He’ll be starting with us in two weeks time.”

  
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. von Aegir.” Mrs. Galatea said without looking away from her screen, typing furiously.

“Mrs. Galatea schedules meetings and organises notes and material for Mr. Blaiddyd, Mr. Fraldarius, and Mr. Gautier.”

“Well I  _ would _ only be doing it for Dimitri– sorry, Mr. Blaiddyd – if the other two wouldn’t stop scaring PAs away left and right. I’ve known them all for far too long to let them get away with any  _ bullshit,  _ so now I get to do three people’s work.”

“Well, I will endeavor to not increase your workload Mrs. Galatea,” Ferdinand offers cordially. This woman already had both his respect and fear in the five seconds he’d known her. “I’ll do what I can to lessen it, even.”

Mrs. Galatea glanced up from her computer screen to look Ferdinand over, before giving a disbelieving scoff and returning to her work. “You can try, but I know you’re going to have your hands full as it is.” A smirk took over her face. “Don’t worry too much about me, as long as you don’t make  _ more _ work for me I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“If you insist, Mrs. Galatea,” Ferdinand said tersely. He was wrong; he wasn’t just fearful of Mrs. Galatea, he was  _ terrified  _ of her _. _

“So the door to the left here,” Mercedes offered to relieve some of the tension, “leads to the offices of Mr. Fraldarius, our CTO, and the door to the right leads to the offices of Mr. Gautier, the CFO. Of course the doors behind Mrs. Galatea here lead us to Mr. Blaiddyd’s office. We’re okay to go see him?”

“Of course, Mercedes,” said Mrs. Galatea, “I’ve got him doing some manual paperwork but it doesn't need to be completed right away. I’m sure he could use the distraction at this point.” 

“Physical paper? Are you trying to punish him?” Mercedes giggled.

“Some of the board members want  _ physical _ copies of everything, like our servers aren’t the most secure in the world – thanks to Mr. Fraldarius,” Mrs. Galatea rolled her eyes. Ferdinand couldn’t relate at all – every important piece of paper at Adrestias Corp was filed in triplicate and they had an entire floor dedicated to storing all of the important documents.

Mercedes walked with informal ease into the company’s CEO offices, and Ferdinand wondered what everyone’s relationship was with one another that they could act so informally. 

The door opened silently, but the soft clicks of Mercedes’ heels echoed through the spacious room. It was surprisingly utilitarian in its decorations: a couple of couches, a few paintings, grey-blue walls without panelling, but nothing screamed  _ I am the most important person in the building.  _ The most ornate item in the room was the enormous desk that sat at the end of the room, which looked to be lacquered and polished hardwood, carved with delicate designs and a magnificent lion on the back of it facing the door; a lion that matched that in the Blue Lion Corp logo. 

Sitting at that desk, mostly hidden behind stacks of folders and papers, was who Ferdinand assumed was Mr. Blaiddyd, though the most that he can make out was a head of bright blond hair; the man was hunched over the desk. Did no one teach him that poor posture would wreck his back?

“Mr. Blaiddyd! I’ve brought someone to meet you. Now, he can’t start for a couple of weeks, but I figure we may as well get introductions out of the way.” Mercedes stepped to the side and waved a hand at Ferdinand, “This is Ferdinand von Aegir, your new assistant.”

Ferdinand heard the cap of a pen being replaced before the blond hair moved upwards to reveal a surprisingly young-looking face, a simple black eyepatch over one eye, and the other a striking blue standing out even more so by the deep purple circle underneath of it. His chin-length blond hair was kept out of his face mostly by a half-updo, with stray strands framing his pale face stunningly. Despite the utter exhaustion evident in his face, this was one of the most beautiful men Ferdinand had ever laid eyes on. And he knew  _ Linhardt. _

Before even responding, several emotions crossed Mr. Blaiddyd’s face: confusion, disbelief, worry, and something that Ferdinand couldn’t quite place. When he finally tamed his face into something more neutral, there was a blush on his cheeks. Ferdinand had to fight a frown; was something wrong with his appearance? Was Mr. Blaiddyd expecting something or someone different?

Possibly realising he’d been quiet for far too long, Mr. Blaiddyd stood abruptly but knocked over his chair.n his attempt to catch it, he managed to knock over one of the stacks of folders, a stack of papers, and sent a cup of pens scattering. Ferdinand took a moment to be impressed with how klutzy one person could manage to be before heading over to help him pick up the strewn documents. Dimitri himself had taken to the ground behind the desk and out of view so Ferdinand went to work grabbing items that had fallen over the front of the desk and followed the trail around the side. He knows that he’s putting the papers out of order and wishes he didn’t have to head back to Adrestia Corp so he could help further.

“So, as far as first impressions go, you’ve certainly made an impression,” Ferdinand said to bring an end to the awkward silence that had filled the room. He was still at the side of the desk, and could only see Mr. Blaiddyd’s legs from his viewpoint.

Dimitri moved abruptly, but with his movement came a loud  _ thump. _ The table shifted an inch. Stunned, Ferdinand could only ask if he was alright as Mercedes rushed over to see if he needed help.

“I’m...fine. Perfectly--” he groaned as he made his way back to standing, waving Mercedes off. He’d hunched in on himself as he clutched where he’d bumped his head, as if trying to make himself smaller. “I  _ will _ be fine, anyways.” Dimitri rubbed his good eye. “Good to meet you Ferdinand, Mercedes can take you back to the lobby while I get this organised.”

“I could help you, Mr. Bla--” Ferdinand started before he was interrupted.

“It’s fine,” Dimitri near growled, anger appearing out of seemingly nowhere, “I’ll see in you in two weeks when you start.”

Unsure of what to do, Ferdinand looked to Mercedes, who still had a gentle smile on her face, even if it was now a little forced.

“Let’s get you out of here for now, Ferdinand.” She turned and headed back to the double doors.Ferdinand took one look back at Mr. Blaiddyd, who was now scowling down at the mess he’d made--a dark look over his face--before following Mercedes out the door.

“I was going to introduce you to Mr. Fraldarius and Mr. Gautier today as well since Mr. Blaiddyd works closely with the two of them, but I think I’ve held you here long enough. You’ll meet them soon enough anyways.”

“I’m still hired?” Ferdinand was genuinely surprised. That felt like a test and if it was, Ferdinand had certainly failed.

“Of course you are! Mr. Blaiddyd said it himself, didn't he? ‘I’ll see you in two weeks when you start?’”

“I suppose so. I thought he was just being polite.” Ferdinand admitted.

A snort came from Mrs. Galatea’s desk. “Polite? Dimitri? That man is blunter than a training sword. If he didn’t mean it he wouldn’t have said it.”

“You weren’t joking when you said he needed help with the social aspect at all, were you Mercedes? Because Goddess above he could certainly use it.” 

Mercedes and Mrs. Galatea shared a look before bursting into laughter, and Ferdinand couldn’t help but feel he was missing something.

“I like this one,” Mrs. Galatea said to Mercedes somewhat cryptically once her laughter had quieted down. “You seem like the stuck-up business type, but I think you’re going to fit in just fine. I’m sure you’ll get along well enough with Dimitri. Felix might eat you alive, and Sylvain might try to eat you up, but they mean well.”

“Thanks?” Ferdinand didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but he also wasn’t sure what he was actually being complimented on.

“I’ll meet you by the elevator doors. You won’t be able to make it down without a key card, but I’m going to be there in a moment. Just need to talk to Mrs. Galatea about something.”

“Of course, Mercedes,” Ferdinand replied before making his way down the hallway. He didn’t hear anything said, but he could hear roaring laughter from Mrs. Galatea as he walked. 

🜚↔🜠

Ferdinand left the building to go back to his current job with pleasantries from Mercedes, and planned to meet at the same conference room they’d held the interview in so they could go through the hiring paperwork and all related documents. 

Walking into the building for the first time at this hour was odd for Ferdinand. He was normally at the building by six in the morning, well before any of the receptionists were at their positions at the front desk. 

“Good morning Fleche and Monica,” he greeted cordially. He liked Fleche well enough, as Randolph’s younger sister and technically Caspar’s aunt through marriage, but never really got to know her outside of her being a close coworker’s relative. Monica, however, he was not a fan of. She had been oddly friendly with Edelgard’s uncle, the creep that he is, and her smile was always...off in a way that Ferdinand couldn’t really explain. Her teeth seemed especially sharp and her eyes always felt like they were boring holes into him. Ferdinand avoided her as much as possible.

“Good morning, Mr. von Aegir,” Fleche responded, sounding confused. The poor girl probably was, as she rarely saw him. 

Monica didn’t respond to Ferdinand, but he did see eyes slide over off the computer screen to him, observing. Ferdinand ignored her however, and chose not to take her unresponsiveness as a slight against him even though it almost certainly was. Fleche, to Ferdinand’s surprise, glared over at Monica’s lack of reply.

With a smile, Ferdinand kept walking to the elevator, nodding politely at all of the other people he passed in lieu of stopping and greeting them all. He tried to memorise the ground-level employees' names as best he could, as they’re the backbone of the company – dealing face-to-face with most of their clientele, minus the larger names and other corporations they deal with. It was a lot, and he only really interacted with them on potluck days most of the time, but it was worth it when they smiled or showed visible surprise when he called them by their name.

Ferdinand took the stairs up to his office. The building was only four floors high compared to the massive tower that Blue Lions Corp occupied, but Adrestia Corp didn’t need to dedicate space to R&D or testing labs. His office was on the fourth floor and he used the walk to gather himself. He was going to give his notice today. He was going to quit being walked all over by Hubert and Edelgard like a doormat. He was going to start at Blue Lions Corp where a couple of people, minus his actual boss, already seemed to like him.

He ducked into his office and shut the door before slumping in his chair, taking the same posture he had critiqued Mr. Blaiddyd on earlier in the day. Not ready to take his resignation letter over to Edelgard and deal with that confrontation just yet, he pulled out his personal phone to see if Alexandre had replied and was surprised to see that he had while he’d been in his interview with Mercedes.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I’m sorry, I was incredibly busy this morning, I promise I didn’t mean ignore you. I am...incredibly flattered that you think that way. Although I have been told by my friends to not be so self conscious of my looks, they are my friends and I worry they feel obligated to tell me so. I find that I come across as more intimidating than anything with my height and bulkiness.  _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ To answer your question about my hobbies though, my friends and I all train in the old Fódlan sword and lance style. It was imposed on us by our parents when we were younger but our teacher and his son are the reason we continued. It’s very intense training, so it’s really the only hobby I have time for, since I am as busy as I am with work. Luckily I should have someone starting soon who will help reduce my workload hopefully.  _

Ferdinand was relieved that his best dating prospect hadn’t been scared off by his forwardness. It was difficult to find someone on dating sites. The two he had dated previously had been two of many that he’d talked to over the site, and yet they were the only two with whom he’d made it to a face to face meeting. He might be putting all of his eggs in one basket currently, instead of messaging a few other people at the same time, but he had a good feeling about this one. Not just because he wanted to feel those abs in the flesh, or that he used proper spelling and grammar. 

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Don’t worry, I understand being so caught up in work that you lose track of the time. Sadly, my previous relationships have fallen apart because I would get too preoccupied with my work at the office that I would accidentally be late for dates; or I would have an important deadline coming up that I wouldn’t be able to make time for them to begin with. It was disappointing, but I’m glad that I’ve finally given in and talked to someone in my field.  _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ So many other businessmen seem so stuffy and boring but you seem to be just the opposite. Old Fódlan weapon arts! Sounds utterly fascinating. I have a coworker that has trained for years in Brigid fighting styles and I love listening to her talk about it. I’d love to hear about your experiences in learning. _

Closing his phone, Ferdinand turned his thoughts back to the task he needed to do. He knew it was unlikely that Alexandre would reply during the middle of the workday anyways; it was rare that Ferdinand himself would be messaging at this time. 

His resignation, right, he needed to do that as soon as he possibly could and  _ not _ think about the man attached to that set of abs. After shaking his head as if to put it back into business mode, Ferdinand opened up his computer and pulled out the flash drive that contained his letter of resignation. He felt bad working on it during company time, but he’d given them enough of his personal time over the last few years to make up for it, and Goddess above they did not deserve a single iota of it. What had he gained in the last few years? He had managed to wrangle out a raise or two, which was shocking, and he had scored a small bonus last year for his work, but had it been it worth it? For what he’d given up for it? He only got a day a week to take for himself, he didn’t have a single promotion under his belt despite everything, and the only people he talked to on a regular basis that weren’t his coworkers were his mother and Lorenz! Ferdinand had to stop and take deep breaths. He was working himself up and didn’t need high blood pressure on top of everything else.

Ferdinand reached for the papers that had just been printed. It was done, and it was perfectly professionally formal, despite wanting to write a scathing letter on why they were going to miss him when he was gone. He stared down at the Adrestia Corp letterhead with its sharp black and red lines against the stark white paper. Despite his major, Ferdinand had taken a few marketing classes where he could. For some reason, he strongly remembered the colour psychology, how each colour could evoke certain emotions. Red was a powerful colour, evoking passion and rage alike, and black read sophistication and seriousness. The Adrestia Corp logo was perfectly tailored to convey what they were, a serious financial group with the power and passion to make your money work for you. 

This really wasn’t the place for him, Ferdinand thought with sudden clarity. Sure, he had a passion for his job, but the financial sector wasn’t one he cared for in the slightest. He helped millionaires become billionaires, and what good was that? He wasn’t helping anyone with that. Blue Lions Corp however, had been helping people. According to the business journals he’d read, they’d been donating their technology to hospitals, schools, and nonprofits alike. Ferdinand could appreciate that sort of charity. Now, he wouldn’t know what the company was really like until he worked for them – whether they would be just as money hungry as the executives that ran Adrestia Corp – but BEC didn’t even make charitable donations. As far as he knew, the only donations most of the executives made were to political campaigns that focussed on deregulating the financial sector.

With the knowledge that he was absolutely certain in his decision to leave, and not just because he was frustrated with his position or that he had a new better paying job, Ferdinand stood from his desk, schooled his face into neutrality and made his way towards Edelgard’s office. He knocked at the open doorway with a quick rap of his knuckles, then straightened his collar as he waited for Edelgard and Hubert to acknowledge his presence from her desk at the end of the room. Hubert didn’t even look up at him from his place leaning over Edelgard’s shoulder as they poured over a stack of paperwork when he called for Ferdinand to step inside of the office. He thought back to the conversation that Mrs. Galatea and Mercedes had, lamenting the need for physical paperwork, and thought that although his father helped bring them towards the modern era, that modern era was still ten years in the past at this point and Adrestias Corp certainly still had a lot of catching up to do.

“What do you need, Ferdinand?” Hubert drawled like Ferdinand was just a waste of time, and Ferdinand barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Ferdinand straightened his back. “I’ve come to announce that I am giving my two-week notice,” and he set his letter of resignation on top of Edelgard's desk. “This is my letter of resignation. I will continue to work for the next two weeks, but I will not be putting in any more overtime. I’ll help with the transference of my position to whomever you choose, although I hope it’ll either be Petra or Bernadetta.”

Neither Hubert nor Edelgard did anything but look shocked for a stretch of time that felt like forever as Ferdinand stood and waited for any sort of response. He felt his hackles rising however, and Hubert’s initial shock turned into something else. Hubert had already been standing, but he moved to stand in front of Ferdinand instead of behind Edelgard.

“And what if I reject your resignation?” Hubert said calmly, like he’d been expecting this exact situation to play out at some point. Edelgard was now standing as well, making her way towards Hubert’s side and looking worried for a reason that Ferdiand couldn’t deduce.

“Then I quit as of right now.” Ferdinand stated matter-of-factly, keeping his hands firmly clasped behind him despite how much he wanted to scrub a palm across his face.

“Ferdinand, please, what prompts this sort of thing?” Edelgard asked, her usual powerful visage seeming small as she asks.

Ferdinand’s brows furrowed and he his shoulders tense as he responded, “If you cannot see why the way I’ve been treated would make me want to leave then I shouldn’t bother telling you, but you are young, Edelgard, and you certainly have a lot to learn about leadership, so I shall tell you my reasons for leaving.”

“One, in all of my time here and despite all of the work that I’ve done I have yet to receive a single promotion, even just in name, and the raise that I’ve gotten I had to fight and argue for even though I had been with the company for two years at that point. I haven’t even gotten one since. No one ever acknowledges how much overtime I put in, or how much I continue working at home even after the time here at the office.

“Two,” Ferdinand's hands unclasped and he was unable to keep from gesturing to his quickly rising anger, “your management style is not one that I respond well to. You rely on negative reinforcement, humiliating me in front of executive and board members, and I have never heard a single  _ ‘thank you Ferdinand,’  _ or  _ ‘nice work you’ve been doing there Ferdinand.’ _ I feel like I’m being treated like a misbehaving child more than I feel like a member of this team sometimes.”

Edelgard actually looked mildly chastised by what Ferdinand was saying. Ferdinand was immensely glad at that – maybe she’ll treat whoever they get to replace him better than they treated him. If they chose Bernadetta or Petra they were going to need a gentler hand in how they’d treat them if they wanted to keep them in the position.

“Three, last and certainly not least, I have come to greatly dislike the nepotism that gave nearly every important person in this company their job whether or not they’re deserving of it. I despise that my father gave me my position rather than letting me find my own place. I’ve wasted too much of my precious time for this company and trying to make my father proud when I could have been doing some actual good somewhere else. It’s taken me far too long to realise that this company doesn't really have a place for me in it that I can take pride in.”

Without even waiting for them to respond, Ferdinand spun on his heels and marched out, ignoring the “ _ please Ferdinand wait a second _ “ that he can hear from Edelgard and a much sterner “ _ Ferdinand, come back here you fool” _ from Hubert.

Ferdinand couldn’t help but shake his head. He was absolutely right about them treating him like a misbehaving child. He could almost hear their pleas for him to return to her office in his parents’ voices as they spoke. He could hardly believe what he’d just done. He’d quit his job. He wouldn’t be returning to this office again after he left.

Instead of heading back towards his office to collect his things and leave, Ferdinand took a turn to his team members’ cubicles, stopping at each one of them to appraise them of the situation and to apologise for the amount of work that they would now have on their shoulders. 

Ferdinand thought that Bernadetta was going to cry. “Ferdie, you big meanie! Who’s going to watch V when I’m gone from the office now? Linhardt will kill them!” She pulled the potted Venus flytrap closer towards her, petting its leaves.

“I’m sure Petra would gladly take care of your beloved V, Bernie.” He set a gentle hand on her shoulder, making sure his movements were as telegraphed as possible, before she jumped up to give him a hug, the rolling chair knocking somewhat loudly into the cubicle wall.

Ferdinand gave up on any semblance of professionality and hugged her back tightly. “I’m sorry Bernie. I’m really going to miss you, you know.”

It didn’t take much to clean up his office. Ferdinand filled all of his personal belongings into a single Banker’s Box and his bag, leaving behind on the desk the Adrestias Corp owned laptop and cell phone. He didn’t use them for anything personal, but he did copy over some of the contacts to his business phone. It was probably against some sort of thing that he’d signed, but he didn’t care and there were certain members of this office that he would like to keep in contact with if possible.

Neither Hubert nor Edelgard came to his office while he was packing up, and neither did he see either of them as he left the building. He was certainly glad for it as he took the stairs down with his meagre personal items. On the first floor, he smiled at everyone he saw the best he could. He didn't feel the need to explain the situation to them as he did his teammates, but he knew that they were all quite smart and would notice him leaving with his items. Whether or not they’d think he quit or got fired wasn’t much to his concern anymore, but he knew that he’d certainly miss potluck days.

He wondered if Blue Lions Corp had something similar. They employed a much larger amount of people than Adrestias Corp did, which would be quite difficult to coordinate. Maybe each department did it. Would executives even have the time to make something for a potluck? Or be able to take the time to join one? Ferdinand hoped so. Nothing was better for morale than sharing a meal with the people you worked with; maybe he would make inquiries about it to Mercedes as head of Human Resources.

Ferdinand nearly walked past the front desk without handing in the fob that gave access to the building before they opened, and turned back and set it down. “I won’t be needing this anymore,” he said with a smile, the excitement of being done with this company starting to set in.

Fleche looked a little confused when she asked, “you won’t be?” 

“I am no longer under the employment of Adrestia Corp, Fleche.”

She looked almost saddened by his statement.

Monica however, had a devious smirk on her face when Ferdinand finally looked at her. He still maintained that he didn’t like her, despite not knowing much about her, and the way she smiled as she told him that he was leaving the company only cemented that. She was weird, and Ferdinand was glad that she would never grace his presence again. 

The click of the building’s front door closing behind him seemed so loud and final in the quiet of the late morning. His trek to his car was long today; an unfortunate side effect of coming into work late was that his usual parking spot had already been taken. He set his things in the trunk of his car and once he got into the driver’s seat he let the day's events wash over him. Only twenty-four hours and his life had been turned upside down, shaken around, and he hadn't even told his mother about the  _ idea _ of getting a new job like he had planned. 

Glancing at the time on his watch, he figured his mother would be home around this time of day. Any charity work or volunteering she did is done in the late afternoons and evenings. Ferdinand assumes that was to avoid his father, but she hadn’t indicated in either direction. Well, she had asked him over for dinner this week, and it wasn’t like he had much else to do currently, what with quitting his job unexpectedly. He debated calling Mercedes and asking if he could start tomorrow; he was certain that she'd agree enthusiastically, considering she’d wanted him ASAP, but Ferdinand realised this was a chance to have some personal time for the first time in what felt like ages. He could treat this like a  _ vacation,  _ spend some time with Astoria, his mother and sisters, meet up with Lorenz and maybe even reconnect with some of his older friends he’d disconnected with only due to the lack of time. 

Mind made up, Ferdinand made his way to family estate, a forty minute drive from the Adrestia Corp building at the heart of downtown to the outskirts of the city where you could barely see your neighbours around you. He much preferred his downtown condo, walking distance to all sorts of amenities and not filled with hallways and empty rooms that would collect dust if it weren’t for the cleaning staff the von Aegir family employed. 

He blasted  _ MARINA _ as he drove, belting out the lyrics, trying to not think about anything going on in his life for just a brief moment. 

🜚↔🜠

Ferdinand arrived at the property gates just before lunchtime, waving brightly to the person at the front security building as they let him in. It was another minute before he pulled up to the front of the building, parking in front of the steps. The family only had a valet during dinner parties, balls and meetings, but he doubted that they'd need him to move. An older man in a simple, but obviously expensive, black and white suit at the top of steps in front of the doors.

“Master Ferdinand! We weren’t expecting you today were we?” The man asked as Ferdinand exited his vehicle.

“Henry!” Ferdinand exclaimed, rushing his way up the steps and drawing the man into a hug that he readily reciprocated. “It’s been a terribly long time, hasn’t it? You haven’t retired yet?” Ferdinand hadn’t smiled this wide in ages – he truly shouldn’t have avoided the estate as much as he had, but he just couldn’t see eye to eye with his father anymore and them being in the same room led to tense situations. 

Henry swatted Ferdinand on the shoulder as they released the hug. “I’m not that old just yet, young man. Let’s go down to the fencing hall and I’ll show you who’s  _ retired _ ,” he said gruffly.

Laughing freely, Ferdinand clutched onto Henry’s shoulders so as to not double over. 

“Well, Master Ferdinand? What brings you to the estate without mention of a visit?” Henry asked as they made their way into the estate, another staff member taking Ferdinand’s suit jacket from him. 

Ferdinand wiped the stray tears that had escaped his eyes as he’d laughed. His heart ached with how much he realised he missed the man who practically raised him. Cliché as it was to have been raised by your butler and his wife, it was what happened when you were rich and your parents travelled the world for business meetings and the like and didn’t want kids underfoot. “Mother extended an invitation for dinner while we were at brunch, and I have an announcement to make as well. Since I seem to be free for the rest of the afternoon, today seemed as good a day as any. I debated calling ahead of time but with my father out of town I figured I would be okay showing up out of the blue.”

“You’re welcome at any time, Master Ferdinand, whether you get an invitation or not. This will always be your home.” Henry said plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Thank you Henry, I’ll try to keep that in mind.” Ferdinand looked around the front entrance, noticing that it hadn’t changed a bit in the couple of years or so it had been since he’d last visited. The same portraits still hung from the walls – not that Ferdinand had sat for one since before he left for university. The floor was still dark hardwood that matched the panelling on the walls, which was a light cream colour. The fixtures were still all silver that he could see, polished to perfection as they always have been.

“Have you eaten?” Henry asked, startling Ferdinand out of his memories. “Jenna still runs the kitchens, and I’m sure she’d be willing to whip something up for you. Your mother and siblings are out of the estate currently, but they will all be back in a couple of hours.” 

“I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I would love to see Jenna. Some tea would be nice as well if you’re willing to join me.”

“If you insist, Master Ferdinand,” Henry smiled. 

The two men travelled through the hallways at a gentle pace, catching each other up with things in their lives. Henry had become a grandfather for the fifth time now, and proudly kept wallet photos of all of his children and grandchildren that he was willing to show off at every opportunity.

When they made it to the kitchen, Ferdinand could hear Elvis’s voice floating through the doors. “I see Jenna’s musical tastes remain the same?”

Henry chuckled, “I don’t think Jenna would let go of Elvis records unless you pried them from her cold, dead heads. Even then, I’m sure the lyrics are etched into her bones at this point.”

When they entered the kitchens, Jenna was the only staff member around, but she would probably be joined by a couple of other staff members when it came to preparing for dinner. Her silver blonde hair was up in a ballet-perfect bun, and she was humming and swaying along with the tune as she put away what looked to be a small grocery delivery. Ferdinand noticed that there were more lines on her face than he remembered, but her eyes were bright and beautiful as they had been when he was a child.

Jenna nearly dropped the bag of leafy greens she was holding when she noticed who’d joined her. “Ferdie, darling!” She set the bag back onto the counter before she gracefully made her way over to the men standing at the kitchen entrance. 

“Jenna, so wonderful to see you.”

“Well you’d see me more if you came for dinner more often.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I did miss you greatly.”

“Well let me fix you up some tea and lunch then. I still make sure to keep your favourite blends in stock. Would you like the Seiros Tea or the Almyran Pine Needles?” She bounded back towards the pantry, still just as full of energy as a young woman.

“I’ll have the Seiros Tea, please Jenna,” Ferdinand called towards her. “Do you have anything you need to attend currently Henry?” Ferdinand implored.

“Nothing that can’t wait a couple of hours. I can make the time to sit with you and my wife anytime.” 

🜚↔🜠

The afternoon went by much too fast for Ferdinand’s liking. Henry did have to return to his duties eventually, so Ferdinand remained at the table in the kitchens and watched Jenna flit about like a fairy, talking and humming and singing as she went about her work. His family wasn’t expected to be back for another hour or so, but Ferdinand was used to entertaining himself.

Ferdinand had texted his mother to let her know that he would be at the estate for dinner, and also exchanged some messages with Alexandre during his lunch break, slowly getting to know him. Ferdinand tried not to ramble, but Alexandre asked about the horse in his pictures and he could go on about his wonderful Astoria for hours. He had apologised after, when Alexandre had mentioned that he needed to get back to work, about taking up the entire conversation, but Alexandre had been nothing but kind. Stating that he enjoyed listening to Ferdinand speak about something he was so obviously passionate about. It had made Ferdinand blush, which only prompted teasing from Jenna when she noticed.

Henry came to fetch Ferdinand when his family had returned, so he quickly said his goodbyes to Jenna and made his way back to the front hall.

A shout of “Ferdie!” was all that Ferdinand heard before getting near knocked over by a ginger blur in a blue sundress.

“Goodness gracious, Madeline, you’re going to knock your poor brother over,” called his mother from around the corner, exasperated.

Ferdinand swept his youngest sister up into a hug, twirling the small woman around. Despite being eighteen, she remained five feet tall and skinny as a rail. It was no effort at all to take her in a princess lift and carried her back towards the rest of their family as she smiled and laughed into his hair.

“If Madeline can ever knock me over it’ll be time to put into hospice care. She’s ninety pounds soaking wet.”

“Hey!” Madeline shouted in Ferdinand’s ear, “I’ll still kick your ass at chess any day!”

“Language,” Ariana said automatically with a sigh at the same time that Ferdinand said “I have no doubt about that.”

Ferdinand’s other sisters rolled their eyes at Ferdinand’s indulgence of their younger sister.

“You can’t hug  _ me _ now that you’re carrying Madeline,” Bea, the second youngest, pouted.

“Oh don’t worry, I doubt any of us will escape a Ferdie hug today.” Maria, the second eldest daughter, said as if getting that hug would be the absolute worst thing that could happen.

“Come now, we can all sit in the Lilac Room and catch up. You mentioned that you have news Ferdinand?” Ariana cut in before her children devolved into bickering.

“Indeed I do,” Ferdinand replied simply – whether it was good or bad news had yet to be seen, but it certainly was news.

All six of them settled into the Lilac Room, Madeline now removed from Ferdinand’s arms and all of them sitting primly on the couches matching in colour to room’s name while a couple of maids set some tea and biscuits on the centre table.

“Well Ferdinand? You may as well cut to the chase,” Ariana motioned for the staff on standby to leave the room once everything was settled. She wasn’t looking at Ferdinand, but he knew that she could tell how nervous he was about it. She also knew that allowing him to ruminate on things only made it worse. Acting nonchalantly about it was her way of showing that she cared. 

Ferdinand cleared his throat and straightened his back further while he fiddled with a piece of his hair. “I quit my job today at Adrestia Corp,” he said clearly. If he thought of this as a board presentation, it would be much easier to get the words out without stumbling. “And in two weeks I begin a position at Blue Lions Corp, working directly under Dimitri Blaiddyd, their new young CEO.”

There was silence in the room as all of them digested the information given to them. Ferdinand expected the worst, expected them to vilify him for abandoning the company that his father helped make international headlines and _ – _

“Oh that’s wonderful Ferdie!” his eldest sister, Alison, clasped her hands together and beamed. “I always knew you were better than Adrestias Corp honestly.” She looked around at the other women in the room who still looked shocked. “What are you looking like that for? I know you all feel the same way, that company is a load of shit–”

“Language, dear.”

“Load of crap, then, if it makes you feel better, mother dearest. But really, they don’t do much of anything, do they? They just make sure those who have money make more money. Now I know we can’t say much as  _ trust fund children _ , but really, I’m glad you got away from it all Ferdie. Plus, the Blue Lions Building is the most impressive building in the city, so who  _ wouldn’t _ want to work there?”

“You certainly put it quite aptly, Alison, but you missed the most important point!” Madeline started.

Maria cut in. “Yeah Alison, you forgot to mention that CEO, CFO, and CTO are like, considered the most attractive men in the business world currently.” A spark lit up in her eyes, the same one she got when she came up with a new way to prank her sisters. “You don’t think you could introduce us to them, could you? Just, invite them to the next von Aegir charity event. I won’t even  _ try _ to embarrass you, I’m sure you could do that well enough on your own.”

“Maria!” Ferdinand exclaimed, closing his eyes against the coming migraine. He knew his cheeks were turning blotchy red from his embarrassed flush. Goddess, Ferdinand  _ knew _ there was a reason he avoided family events when possible. It would be a long time before he could be in the same room as all of his sisters again for a long while, charity event or not. 

They always ganged up on him like this. Everyone, including their mother, laughed brightly, the sounds echoing through the chambered ceilings. Despite how embarrassed he was, Ferdinand grudgingly admitted that he’d missed this. Missed them. They were all much different people when their father wasn't around to expect them to act a certain way.

Once the laughter died down, the women blotting away tears with tissues procured out of seemingly nowhere– _ it’s called a purse, Ferdie dear, they’re sitting right beside us _ –to keep their makeup intact, they all chatted amicably. Madeline somehow maneuvered him to sit sideways and then proceeded to comb out his lion’s mane of hair and braid it into an intricate updo that was going to be a pain to pull apart come morning while everyone else very indiscreetly took photos. 

Ferdinand took a selfie of his own while Madeline worked, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth while concentrating, and his own face alight with adoration for his baby sister. He posted it to Instagram, captioning it with a simple “the things we do for our baby sisters.“ Then, without trying to think about it too much, he sent the photo off to Alexandre as well, closing the app quickly afterwards hoping his meddling sisters hadn’t noticed.

Henry came and summoned them for dinner at five thirty on the dot and they all headed to take their places at the table in the informal dining room, much smaller than the formal dining room but no less decorated. When the head of the house wasn’t around, they chose to eat family-style, passing around dishes and serving themselves. Tonight Henry and Jenna joined them at the table as well, curled up together at one end of the table, each with a glass of wine in hand. Ferdinand had turned the wine down today; he knew if he had one they wouldn’t let him keep his glass empty and he would much prefer to sleep in his own bed for the night.

It was nearing seven when Ferdinand began to make his leave, trying his hardest to ignore the pleas of his sisters and mother to stay _just_ _one more hour, please Ferdie._

“Just stay the night, it’s not like you have to work in the morning,” Ariana implored.

“I have other things I need to do in the morning, mother. I promise I’ll be back again for dinner this week before father gets back.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

“I know you will.”

He hugged all of his sisters before leaving, even Maria, reminding them that phones work both ways and they were more than welcome to text or call him at any point over the next two weeks.

Henry walked him to the door and grabbed his suit jacket, which Ferdinand took gratefully.

“It’s been good to see you, Henry.”

“You as well, Master Ferdinand. I’d love to see you more than once a year you know. I’m not getting any younger.”

Ferdinand winced, “I know, I’ll try Henry. It’s just–father, he makes things so difficult. All he can see is how much of a disappointment I’ve become.”

“You are anything but a disappointment, Ferdinand, despite anything your father might say.”

“Thank you, Henry.” Ferdinand made his way down the estate steps. “Make sure you tell Jenna I said goodnight,” he called out before climbing into his car.

Ferdinand could see Henry still standing on the steps in his rearview mirror as he made his way down the ridiculously long driveway and back home.

🜚↔🜠

Ferdinand made his way straight to the bathroom to complete his nightly routine before relaxing in bed. He spent twenty minutes more than he usually did in there trying to get a good bathroom selfie of himself shirtless to send off to Alexandre. When he was satisfied with the photo and opened up the dating app to message Alexandre, Ferdinand noticed he’d received replies to his earlier photo of him and Madeline doing his hair over his shoulder. 

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ She is absolutely beautiful, should I be jealous? _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ No, she has the same hair and eyes as you. Sister? Or cousin, could be either or. Either way, the family resemblance is striking. Of course she holds no candle to you darling. You should put your hair up more often, it is quite becoming of you. _

Ferdinand couldn’t help but blush at  _ darling _ . He’d been called many things in his life by lovers but  _ darling _ was never one of them. It was a little on the old-fashioned side, but really, with the formal way the two of them both spoke it hardly felt that way. 

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ That’s my youngest sister, Madeline. Don’t let the face fool you, she can be an absolute menace if she wants to be, but everyone let’s her get away with it. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I’m glad you find me more attractive than my sister, however, it would be a shame to have to find someone else like you on this website. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ And pet names already? You should take me out to dinner first  _ sweetheart. _ ;) _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ [photo of Ferdinand standing shirtless in front of the mirror. He doesn’t have a six pack, but his waist is narrow compared to his broad shoulders. He is covered in freckles.] _

Ferdinand saw that Alexandre was replying almost immediately after sending the photo. The three dots bounced in the corner for what seemed like a lifetime before he finally responded.

**Alexandre:** _ I don’t have any full siblings, but I do have a half sister, but we have been raised apart and don’t know each other all that well. I do have several people close to me that I consider family instead, however, since we were pretty much raised together. You are lucky to have been blessed by such a wonderful sibling.  _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Cheeky one, aren’t you? Do you like pet names sunshine? I’d take you to the most expensive restaurant in all of Fódlan for the pleasure of calling you darling, but looking at you like that has me wanting a taste of something else. Are you in bed right now? _

Alexandre wasn’t the best at this, that much was obvious to Ferdinand. Yet he couldn’t help but shudder. He could feel the eagerness through emotionless font on the screen and the thought that this obviously ten out of ten man wanted him? It made Ferdinand feel powerful.

Alexandre sent Ferdinand a photo before he could reply to him. Still no face, but Alexandre was laying in a massive bed done up in royal blues. He was on top of his duvet, also shirtless, those delicious abs on display for him to see, leading down to lowriding sweats with a large and obvious tent in them. Ferdinand found himself palming himself through his boxers looking at the photo, before realising he’d never responded.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Yes, I am indeed in bed. Eager are we? _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ More than you can imagine. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Have you done this before with anyone else? _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Once, a long time ago. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Do you want me to walk you through this Alexandre? Have me tell you what to do? _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Please _

And oh, that felt good, having this man ask him to take the lead. Ferdinand had rarely had a partner that didn’t want Ferdinand in a more submissive role. Not that Ferdinand ever relinquished full control to someone, BDSM was  _ not _ his thing, but most men had seen him and thought him complete bottom. Ferdinand honestly preferred switching.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I want you to touch yourself through your sweats, can you do that for me sweetheart? I’m going to do the same. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Absolutely darling. _

Ferdinand slid his non-dominant hand back down towards his boxers, and grabbed himself through the thin fabric. He already knew he wasn’t going to last very long, considering how long it'd been. He wondered if it’d been a while for Alexandre as well, considering how eager the man had been.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Oh it feels so good darling, can I please touch myself fully? _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ You can, but I want you to take a picture and send it to me. Please sweetheart? _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Yes of course, anything for you. _

It took not even a minute for Alexandre to send the photo of himself, sweatpants shoved down muscular thighs, cock shiny with precome standing straight up with a wide, calloused hand around it. Ferdinand groaned and threw his head against his pillow, pulling his own boxers down his thighs and grabbing himself fully. He took his own quick photo and sent it off to Alexandre before stroking himself with intent.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I’m not going to last long like this. Touch yourself until you come for me sweetheart. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I won’t be lasting much longer myself. Goddess, your cock is perfect, bet you’d split me open so good. _

Ferdinand whited out. It was the best orgasm he’d had in a long time, and all Alexandre did was ask for his cock in him. He’d have felt pathetic if he hadn’t felt so blissed-out. 

Mustering the energy to move, he pulled himself to the bathroom to clean himself up, bringing his phone with him, noting that Alexandre had sent more messages.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I think my body has turned to mush. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ This is the best I’ve felt in ages, I can’t believe I pay for a masseuse.  _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ If I don’t respond, I’ve fallen asleep, have a good rest Ferdinand darling, I’ll talk to you tomorrow when I can. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Goodnight sweetheart, sleep well. _

🜚↔🜠

Two weeks of free time went by surprisingly fast. He visited Astoria everyday, doing the daily care for his horse for the first time in a long time on his own. It was so incredibly satisfying to do the menial labour and the ache in his muscles was a good reminder that he should try to keep up getting exercise if he wanted to keep his figure.

Ferdinand also spent a lot of time with his family, especially since his father’s business trip was extended another week for further negotiations. Madeline hadn’t started her first university year just yet, and her other sisters spent more time doing charity work than having careers. None of them were married yet, despite their fathers attempts at parading suitors in their faces whenever possible.

A decent amount of time was spent catching up with Lorenz, and by extension that led him to meeting Claude, heir to Golden Deer Industries. A man that Ferdinand was still unsure of. The entire meeting felt like Claude had managed to avoid mentioning a single personal detail about himself. It was odd to find someone who could talk himself around things better than Hubert, but without the vague looming idea that he could kill you discreetly. He was sure he’d see Claude more through work, as Blue Lions Corp often made contracts with Golden Deer Industries for software development. 

Every other spare minute he could afford to look at his phone was spent messaging Alexandre, mostly in the evenings when Alexandre had more spare time. Ferdinand hadn’t even seen the man’s face, and yet found himself completely entranced by him. He was smart, had a master’s in Mechanical Engineering, a doctorate in Electrical Engineering; until he had gotten headhunted by a business he had worked for in university doing research on medical technology. When he wasn’t sparring with his teacher and friends he rebuilt vintage motorcycles (Ferdinand wasn’t exactly sure when this man made time for sleep). 

Ferdinand couldn’t imagine a more perfect man.

All attempts to set up a date in person had fallen through, but Ferdinand didn’t even mind. He was enjoying their back and forth texting (and the occasional sexting). He didn’t even feel that desperate to physically meet the man when he was actually developing an emotional connection with him. Compared to his previous attempts at online dating, Ferdinand was absolutely ecstatic as to how this one was playing out. 

🜚↔🜠

His first day at Blue Lions Corp was on a beautiful late summer day. He arrived only ten minutes early to the same conference room he had met Mercedes in previously, bringing with him a cup of tea to drink as he filled out forms. He took in the wonderful open atmosphere the building had; how this floor of conference rooms was filled with glass walls that somehow managed to keep all sound out. He was incredibly impressed when, as he was looking around, one of the rooms across the hall’s walls tinted to an opaque grey-blue colour at the touch of a button for privacy. Compared to the old, historical building he’d occupied previously, this place felt like something out of a science fiction novel. 

Mercedes cleared her throat at the entrance of the room and, startled, Ferdinand nearly tipped the chair over as he turned quickly to face her.

“Sorry, Mercedes,” he said sheepishly, twirling a piece of his hair around his finger. “The building is an absolute technical marvel compared to what I’m used to.”

Mercedes made her way over the conference table and sat opposite Ferdinand, setting a couple of tablets and stylus’ down, not a single stack of paper in sight. “It certainly can be, we try to implement the technology those up in the R&D levels come up with as soon as we can. What better way to impress the investors than to show them what their money’s doing?”

“Indeed. I’m most certainly impressed.”

“Well, today is for information. The tablet I’m giving you is yours and it has all of the forms I need you to fill out. If you’re unsure about anything, don’t hesitate to ask and we’ll go through it together. Your staff email has already been set up and is accessible on that tablet already, as well as all of the relevant contacts that you’ll need. You don’t need to worry about a case for it or anything, since it’s virtually unbreakable except under the most extreme circumstances, but please, try not to break it...” Mercedes stopped for several seconds, her eyes focussed on something in the distance and her fingers tapping the top of the table as she concentrated. “Oh yes! This device is unlocked biometrically.” She pushed the tablet that Ferdinand assumed as his towards him. “If I could get you to turn it on by holding the button on the bottom of the screen for three seconds, it’ll bring up the starting information and help you get your fingerprints registered.”

Ferdinand followed her instructions, pressing the bottom button. The screen lit up with a pale azure before the Blue Lion Corp’s logo faded into the screen in a royal blue. As it loaded, Ferdinand became mesmerised by the lion animating a yawn and stretch as well as batting at the ellipses that bounce after the  _ loading  _ text. It was unbearably adorable and Ferdinand would deny cooing at it with everything he had.

“It only animates like that on employee tablets. Some board members found it too ‘distastefully childish,’” Mercedes rolled her eyes, “even though market researchers found that it was received very well by testing groups of many demographics. At least, that’s what Annette said. She’s up in R&D, I’m sure you’ll meet her soon enough.”

Ferdinand laughed as he followed on-screen instructions. “Is being unable to enjoy things a requirement for board positions? Or does that just happen as you get older?”

“You’d have to ask Rufus, Mr. Blaiddyd’s uncle. He’s the one who appointed most of the current board,” Mercedes said with a slightly pained smile. Ferdinand wondered how she felt about the scandal caused by Rufus, or her opinions of Rufus himself, but he didn’t think it appropriate to ask. Maybe when he knew her better. It was obvious she disliked the man.

They continued small talk as he went over all of the documents. Most of them were pretty standard as far as he could tell. The NDA was very thorough and seemed to have been tailored to his position, and some of the wording on intellectual property he needed to ask Mercedes on, but all in all it took him a total of two hours to make his way through it. Having Mercedes with him meant the time flew by. He’d asked her if there wasn’t something else she needed doing but Mercedes had assured him that there was nothing she couldn’t delegate at the moment.

When they were done, Mercedes took him up one level to take a photo for his keycard and took him to the floor’s lunchroom to grab some tea while they waited for it to print.

“Oh yes, I’d been meaning to ask if there are potlucks held here? I’d understand if not, considering how large the company is, but they’re fantastic for morale and getting people to know each other…” Ferdinand trailed off as Mercedes smiled indulgently at him. He felt his cheeks turn red. What was he thinking? Asking about potlucks like some trad wife.

“We do indeed host potlucks,” she laughed, which only made Ferdinand’s cheek burn hotter. “They’re on the first Friday of the month and are held in the floor’s lunchroom, but there’s nothing that says you can’t go to other floors. Unless you don’t have clearance I guess,” she tapped a finger against her chin, “but you’ll have clearance for the entire building, so you’re free to flutter about for lunches.”

Ferdinand cleared his throat, “I see, thank you. I like getting to know as many of my co-workers as I can.”

Mercedes looked delighted at that. “That’s lovely! You’ll have to make sure to drag Mr. Blaiddyd with you as often as you can.”

Ferdinand tried to imagine dragging that large, gloomy looking man anywhere and nearly burst out laughing at the thought, covering it up with a cough and a large mouthful of his tea. “I’ll see what I can do.”

After setting his keycard up and getting him a new work cell phone and setting it up similarly to the tablet, (the model was apparently not on the market yet, it looked like a slim piece of glass with a metal border. Mercedes said that it’s just as indestructible but Ferdinand did  _ not  _ want to test that) Mercedes took him up to the top floor to the Executive offices.

Mrs. Galatea was sitting at the same desk that she had been the day of Ferdinand’s interview, but she looked to be in a much fouler mood as her brows were furrowed and her mouth was in a thin line as she looked at her computer.

“Mrs. Galatea, I’ve brought Ferdinand for his first day,” Mercedes said, her voice carefully neutral.

Her face relaxed monumentally as she turned to the two of them. “Oh, thank the Goddess. The three stooges are all in there with some of the other board members to talk about something that’s come from Rufus’s reign of terror and I’m shocked it hasn’t devolved into yelling yet.”

“Oh my,” Mercedes sighed, “well, an interruption might be just what’s needed. At the very least, they’ll all be on better behavior with an unknown in the room with them,” she made her way to the double doors.

“Are we sure this is really the best idea?” Ferdinand asked, nervous. He liked to think he made a decent mediator, but he’d only met one person in the room there and didn’t even know the situation.

Mercedes waved him off. “You’ll be fine, the old codgers are harmless. Rude, certainly, but harmless. I’m more worried about holding Mr. Fraldarius--Felix--back from doing something that’ll be a detriment to Dimitri’s campaign to restructure the board.”

Ferdinand couldn’t help but wonder what in the world he’d gotten himself into and debated turning back and out of the building.  _ No, _ he thought,  _ I am Ferdinand von Aegir, I can’t back out of this challenge. _ He nodded to Mercedes and walked behind her into the room. Her confidence in the situation was the only thing keeping him from turning back.

The air in that office was tense enough to cut with a sword. Which, as he took a second look across all of the people standing on either side of the room, someone was holding. Ferdinand sent a terrified look over to Mercedes, who had fallen in beside him as they made their way in, to which she  _ shrugged _ . That must mean that man is Mr. Fraldarius, the one likely to do something to do something detrimental. Like  _ murder _ someone. 

Mr. Blaiddyd stood in front of Mr. Fraldarius with his back turned towards him, which was likely shielding the older board members standing opposite them from viewing the sword, as Mr. Blaiddyd completely dwarfed Mr. Fraldarius in size. There was another man, standing on the far side of Mr. Fraldarius with one arm slung over his shoulder, the other arm held up in a placating manner. It felt like something out of a movie in its ridiculousness and drama. (Why were they all standing, for one?) The older board members were blathering something about  _ Rufus’s policies  _ with bored expressions on their faces. Ferdinand couldn’t process the words – he was busy enough trying to process the scene.

“I’m just trying to understand,” Mr. Blaiddyd said, and Ferdinand could finally pay attention to what was happening around him now that the initial shock of it all had worn off, “why you think that we need to discontinue our charitable work.”

“Not all of it,” the board member in front said quickly and Ferdinand didn’t even have to be paying all that much attention to know that he was backtracking. He reminded Ferdinand of some of Adrestia Corp’s largest investors. The ones that threw a fit when the market took a small dive and their money only increased by six percent instead of seven. “All I’m saying is our profit margin is shrinking and we can’t afford to lose investors.”

Mr. Blaiddyd’s mouth tilted downward, “and yet you try to push a raise through for yourselves and the board members by taking a vote when I am unable to attend a meeting? I’ve heard enough, and I have better things to be doing. Leave my office  _ now, _ ” the last word came out as a growl and the board members flinched back before leaving, never fully turning their backs towards him. 

Ferdinand took a deep breath to steady himself.

“Well that went better than expected,” Mercedes sounded frustrated, holding a hand over her heart. “Which really isn’t saying much. Felix, put your sword away before there’s another incident report on my desk. Just because Annette knows how to get blood stains out doesn’t mean you can let her be your maid. She’s got better things to do in R&D.”

Mr. Fraldarius grumbled nearly incoherently, but Ferdinand thought he made out the words “like blowing things up with Ashe.” At least his sword was now sheathed in at this left hip.

“And Sylvain,” Mercedes turned stern, hands on her hips as she stood to her full height.

“Hey, Mercie, you gotta believe me when I say I didn’t actually do anything this time.”

Mercedes squinted skeptically at him, and seemed to find him truthful, because she turned her ire towards Mr. Blaiddyd, who at least looked a little chastised. “What did I say about antagonising the board members!? Goddess above, I’m not your keeper, gentlemen, and neither is Ingrid. I get that Rufus appointed self-serving members but all this aggression is going to do is lock you out of the board! Or get all three of you replaced and no one could do shit about it! You may own a majority of the shares but if it’s shown that you’re not acting in the best interests of the company you’ll lose it all!” Mercedes was completely red in the face with her frustration.

Ferdinand put a gentle hand on Mercedes' shoulder, “if I may,” he offered, and Mercedes nodded her head, and tried to put herself back together, pushing back strands of her blonde hair that had fallen in her face and bushing down her blouse. It was obvious she wasn’t someone who lost it like that often. 

“Have you gentlemen never had a single lesson in the art of diplomacy, subtlety, or the basics of human interaction?” Ferdinand stepped towards them, his head held high, back straight, and arms behind his back. “That was rhetorical by the way. The answer is obviously no.”

Mr. Fraldarius’s scowl deepened and Ferdinand had to wonder if he had any other expressions at this point besides looking ready to murder someone. The ginger one, Sylvain (and goodness does Ferdinand wish he could remember his last name), looked aloof and frivolous, but his eyes were sharp; it was obvious to Ferdinand that he paid careful attention to his surroundings. Mr. Blaiddyd, however, looked like a kicked puppy and Ferdinand wished he could be gentle about this but it probably wouldn’t get through to Felix if he was. 

“Those types of men are sharks in the water. Harmless mostly, but if they smell blood? Smell your weaknesses? They will  _ strike _ hard and mercilessly and it won’t be something you can parry with a weapon.” Ferdinand looked pointedly at Felix, whose hand remained resting on his hilt. “And don’t think they won’t do anything to save themselves even if everyone else on their ship, or in their company, drowns.” He stopped in front of Dimitri and looked up at him, “You, Mr. Blaiddyd, as CEO, need to show the least amount of weakness.” He punctuated the sentence by prodding Mr. Blaiddyd on his chest, maintaining eye contact. “Emotions need to be carefully curated. You need to master your own body language to make sure it says what you want it to say rather than what you’re thinking. Your facial expressions, nervous ticks, and mannerisms can all be controlled, and they should be. Are you gentlemen aware of colour psychology? Because even the clothes you wear can influence how people will react to you.”

Ferdinand stepped away from Mr. Blaiddyd and continued walking until he faced Mr. Fraldarius, looking down at him. He noticed that the man didn’t make eye contact with him, choosing instead to stare at his chin, possibly one of the buttons on his shirt. “When you are quick to anger, and act volatile, they will think you have something to hide. Then they will dig and dig into your personal life until they find something,  _ anything,  _ that they can sell to the media as an ‘anonymous source’ and laugh as scandals kill your credibility. Or they’ll blackmail you, more likely since scandals make the stock fall and  _ daddy dearest needs another car _ . Endearing yourself to the public first is easy and important – they do have such a short memory when it comes to the lives of the rich and famous, and them liking you reduces the chances of them being used against you. It’s the other executive members and the board members that will be difficult but it’s when you endear yourselves to them that you’ll be able to do things, not against company interests, but  _ their _ interests. Threatening them with a sword will do absolutely nothing for your cause. You’re the CTO, not an attack dog, you have security if someone needs to be removed from your offices, so use them. You need to hide your strengths and play them when needed.”

He moved on to Sylvain then, noting the relaxed posture and open body language. “Mr. Gautier,” and Ferdinand was glad to have remembered his surname by the time he reached him, “your skill in body language manipulation is impressive. Your eyes give you away, but I’m sure that no one will be paying close enough attention to you to notice. Which I’m sure is the point. Really though, you know the image you want to project and do a bang-up job producing it. I’d be more impressed if that image wasn’t ‘incompetant asshole,’ and while I’m  _ sure  _ you’re competent at your job, if they don’t know that they may just find you completely replaceable.” 

Mercedes clapped her hands together as a broad smile overtook her face. “I knew I hired the right person! Honestly, I don’t think I or any of our friends could have given such a thorough dressing down. ”

Mr. Fraldarius glared at her.

Ferdinand collapsed on one of the couches in the room, sighing heavily before sitting himself up with perfect posture and legs neatly crossed. “Now, I’m no media manager, but I know a small company that can help with your image in terms of public outings, social media, and wardrobe. By small, I mean a couple of married women, but I can vouch for them. If they can make my father look decent to people despite his being a selfish, distant man, then they’ll have no trouble with you guys unless you’ve committed some non-white collar crime.

“And I’ll bring in the person who taught me about how to present yourselves to people. I’ll call her today and bring her in daily until her lessons stick. I know you three do have a company to run, but I’ll talk to Mrs. Galatea about meetings being delayed or postponed until you act like actual human beings.” His mother would probably like to come in; honestly, she would most likely find Felix’s harsh demeanor endearing.

“I have no need for any of this,” Felix barked out, and Ferdinand thought he looked like a bristled cat.

Ferdinand could only raise a brow at him. “Really? You’re sure about that? Mercedes, how many complaints have you gotten about Mr. Fraldarius’ behaviour?”

Mercedes pulled out her phone and spent several moments looking through it. “Official complaints? Thirty-two. Unofficial complaining? I’ve gotten over two hundred emails.”

Felix looked almost shocked; he couldn’t have not realised how problematic the kind of behaviour he showed earlier was, right?

“I rest my case. Mandatory lessons for the two of you starting tomorrow. I’m calling Catherine and Shamir about managing the media for all three of you, and absolutely no face-to-face meetings if possible. Text-based correspondence preferred.” Ferdinand stood and made his way to the entrance of the office. “I’m going to talk to Mrs. Galatea now.”

Shutting the door behind himself, he let himself lean up against it momentarily before he turned to face Mrs. Galatea, who had spun her chair around and let out a low whistle. 

“Don’t tell me I have to call Annette to get blood out of something, please.”

“No, no blood stains to be seen. Are they always like that?”

Mrs. Galatea rested her chin on her hand, “yup,” she said, popping the ‘p.’ “Dimitri didn’t really want the position. He was much happier working down in R&D where he could talk to people that spoke the same language he did. Felix was never supposed to take the CTO position from his father either, it was supposed to go to his older brother, but he,” Mrs. Galatea stopped and her face twisted momentarily into something of deep grief, “he died in an accident that also took Dimitri’s parents, so Rodrigue had basically dusted off the child he barely paid attention to and pushed him into it. Sylvain also had an older brother, but his parents disowned him and turned Sylvain into this ‘golden child’ that could do no wrong.”

Ferdinand hummed, “that...explains a lot actually. I hope I didn’t come across as too terribly rude.”

“I could hear you through the doors. Honestly, they definitely deserve the dressing down. You’re doing everyone a favour with this, I’m sorry if you feel like this isn’t what you signed up for.”

“It really isn’t what I thought I was getting myself into, but I’m rather glad it isn’t. Now, I have some people to call.” Ferdinand pushed himself away from the door, and Mrs. Galatea only nodded before turning back to her work. “Oh yes, I was wondering if it was possible to postpone all of Mr. Fraldarius’s and Mr. Blaiddyd’s meetings? Those two shouldn’t be allowed to interact with people as they are.”

Mrs. Galatea laughed dryly, “I’ll certainly try my best.”

🜚↔🜠

Shamir and Catherine were agreeable to working with Blue Lions Corp, upon hearing the request from Ferdinand. They currently had no clients, but Ferdinand was willing to offer them more than their usual going rate to take them on anyways if they had been busy. After explaining the scene he saw earlier to the best of his abilities, however, Shamir and Catherine admitted that the amusement of the situation would have almost been enough payment. Ferdinand was able to release some of the tension in his shoulders when they agreed to come in starting tomorrow. Now Ferdinand just had to call his mother.

“Ferdinand dear, is something wrong? I thought you were starting at Blue Lions Corp today?”

“The situation with the CEO, and CTO is dire, mother, I need you to come in and help me with them. You’re a much more patient teacher than I ever was.”

“Teach? I thought you were helping Mr. Blaiddyd with running the company?”

“I’m sure they’re fairly competent at that already mother, but they’re not executive types. I think both of them have never had to interact with board members or investors in their life.”

“ _ Oh _ , oh dear. They’re blood in the water to the sharks, aren’t they,” it wasn’t really a question.

“Indeed mother. I already gave them the shark analogy, but I need you to actually teach them how not to bleed in front of the sharks. Starting tomorrow if possible. I already have Shamir and Catherine coming in to help as well.”

“Lovely, I always did like those two. I can be there tomorrow, just let me check my calendar to see what times I’m available.” Ferdinand heard some rustling as Ariana pulled out the well-used pocket calendar from her purse. “I can come after lunch, around twelve-thirty?”

“That works just fine for me, I’ve gotten most of their in-person meetings cancelled – their assistant is well on my side for all of this. Thank you, mother, I really do owe you one.”

“Nonsense dear! It’s not like I’m doing much of anything lately with all of my babies grown. Plus I’ve heard that the two men are quite some eye candy, I could most definitely hang around with some handsome men for once.”

“Mother!”

“I’m kidding Ferdinand, mostly. I promise I won’t flirt with your boss. I’ve got to go now, but I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Love you dear.”

Ariana hung up before Ferdinand could even reply to her ridiculousness. Really, maybe he should have asked Alison. Ferdinand shook his head, no, she’d probably be worse about the whole thing. 

He returned to the office and let them know that everyone was scheduled to come tomorrow. Dimitri nodded sullenly, still frozen in place where he had been standing the whole time and Felix just crossed his arms and stalked out of the room without a word. Sylvain excused himself to go back to work, and Mercedes gave Ferdinand a tight hug, thanking him lowly so the others couldn’t hear, then made her way out of the office. 

“I’m sure there’s tons of work for us to go over, if you’d like, Mr. Blaiddyd? First I think I’ll get us a cup of tea. Do you have a preferred blend?”

“Chamomile,” Dimitri said quietly, and Ferdinand nodded,headed back out of the office, and made his way to the floor’s lunchroom.

While waiting for the water to boil, Ferdinand checked his personal phone for messages quickly, a little disappointed that there wasn’t one from Alexandre even in reply to his ‘ _ good morning _ .’ There were messages from his sisters and Lorenz, however, asking how the first day was going so far. He replied with an honest, if not completely telling ‘ _ interesting _ ’ and a promise to Lorenz that he’d call that evening, ignoring the indignant ‘ _ c’mon, give the details _ ,’ from his sister.

🜚↔🜠

The rest of the day went by quickly, and Ferdinand learned an incredible amount about how the company was run, the many fascinating projects that Blue Lions Corp was currently running in all sorts of different fields, and how the process for turning prototypes into marketable products happened (refining, and testing, and patents, oh my!). All of their manufacturing was done in the country, and as many of their materials as possible came from local sources; which was quite impressive if you considered that there were many cheaper countries to produce in. When Ferdinand asked why they chose to do things that way, Mr. Blaiddyd only gave a tired smile and said that it was how his late father had done things, and since they were so established here in Fódlan, with contracts that extended far into the future, moving production to a cheaper country at this point would be more expensive than leaving it be.

Mr. Blaiddyd’s predecessor rarely, if ever, did interviews about how the company was run, or about much of the business aspect of things in general. His name was much more likely to be seen in tabloids than business magazines, so Ferdinand (and the rest of the public, as well) was never able to read much about Blue Lions Corp as a business, since Mr. Blaiddyd’s father died when he was young. And while reading old magazines and articles gave you some insight, the world had changed for too much in the last eighteen or so years for them to remain relevant.

Ferdinand managed to finish work by five o'clock, and it was shockingly easy to convince Dimitri to leave at a reasonable time. Judging by the deep purple bruise under his good eye, Dimitri hadn’t gotten much of a rest lately.

“Do try and get some rest, Mr. Blaiddyd. Catherine and Shamir are…” Ferdinand trailed off as he fought to find the best words to describe them. “They’re  _ a lot _ , and so can Ariana be sometimes. It would be best to be as rested as you can be.”

“I’ll do my best,” Mr. Blaiddyd said solemnly, like he was swearing an oath. 

Ferdinand found his boss to be a dramatic man, and could easily imagine him playing a Hamlet-type character. He really needed to go to the theatre soon – it seemed to be on his mind lately and it had been a while. He wondered if Alexandre would be amenable to a theatre date? If not, he was certain that Madeline or Lorenz would be up for a show. 

Ferdinand rested his forehead against his steering wheel momentarily before heading out, taking several deep breaths. His first day and he’d scolded three executive members about their behaviour of all things (no matter how much it was needed), with a monologue that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Shakespearean script! Mercedes was more than fine with it at least, and Mr. Blaiddyd  _ seemed _ to be fine with everything once he’d come back with the tea for them both. Goodness gracious, what had come over him lately? First, quitting like he had at Adrestias, now talking to his boss in a totally unprofessional manner. Maybe he was finally cracking. Maybe he should have gone into the theatre program at Garreg Mach like he’d wanted to; seeing as all he’d done lately was be dramatic.

Ferdinand didn’t check his phone until he was sitting for dinner, where a few messages from Alexandre were waiting, making Ferdinand smile down at his screen.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Good afternoon, I’m sorry I was unable to message you until later today. Today seemed to be an especially busy day for myself. Board members are quite the interesting specimen, I can’t seem to wrap my head around how they process things. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ It was your first day of your new job was it not? Did things go well for you? _

**_Alexandre:_** _The first day of my current job wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, so I hope that yours went better than mine had._

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ It’s quite alright! I knew you were a busy man when I first started messaging you.  _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Board members aren’t too difficult to understand once you figure out their motives, which tend to be their profits and the investors pockets. You have to be very subtle about manipulating them or they get spooked and will close off. Like frightened little animals protecting themselves. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ My first day was...interesting to say the least. I’m worried I antagonised my boss and two of his closest executive members already though. I seem to be unable to hold my tongue lately when it comes to criticism. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ It can’t have been too bad if you still have your job, right? _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I guess so, the afternoon was quite productive once we began working, but my boss doesn’t seem to want to even look me in the face all that much.  _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Maybe he finds that you distract him too much with your beautiful face :) I know I would have trouble maintaining eye contact with such a beautiful creature as yourself. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I sure hope that’s not the case! For one, I only have eyes for you sweetheart ;) and two, fraternisation rules exist for a reason! I could never date my boss. It’s not the best situation, ethically.  _

**_Dimitri:_ ** _ I am glad I have no reason to be jealous then.  _

**_Dimitri:_ ** _ I know it’s early, but sadly I must head off to bed, I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be an even longer day than today was. Have a good night darling. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Goodnight, sweetheart. _

Ferdinand took that as a sign he should give a call to Lorenz like he’d promised before heading to bed himself. He knew his calls to Lorenz normally lasted closer to the hour long mark.

🜚↔🜠

When Ferdinand awoke the next morning, he felt oddly adrift. He’d been plagued with odd dreams that he couldn’t remember, but he knew that they were behind the odd, unsettling feeling sitting in his chest. It was five in the morning, later than his usual wake-up time, and despite getting to bed at around nine at night, he didn’t feel very rested at all. If it weren't for the fact that today was only his second day on top of all of the things happening, Ferdinand would have debated calling in a personal day and tried to sleep again. 

Alas, today was much too important a day to miss.

He prepared for the day mechanically, dabbing a small amount of concealer under his eyes to hide the evidence of his restless sleep. He wondered if Catherine would be able to get Mr. Fraldarius or Mr. Blaiddyd to wear makeup and laughed at the image to himself. Then again, he didn’t think either of them had grown up with a horde of younger sisters wanting someone to practice on. He was grateful though, it had certainly helped prepare him for theatre in high school, where he was the only boy able to sit still to have their makeup done.

A ‘ _ good morning, good luck with today’  _ message sent off to Alexandre, Ferdinand ate his breakfast and read the paper, noting that one of the Mittelfrank Opera's upcoming performances would one of his favourites from back when he was a young boy and mother used to take him just the two of them. He opened up the opera house’s website on his phone and immediately purchased two box seats for the opening night in three weeks time. He’d invite Alexandre first, but if he couldn’t make it, then Lorenz would certainly make time to come.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Are you interested in seeing the opera? One of my favourite shows is opening in a few weeks and I was wondering if you’d like to join me. I already have the tickets, but no pressure at all, I have a few friends who’d come to the performance with me if you are unable to or uninterested.  _

To his surprise, Alexander responded right away. He must also have been having an early morning.

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ Good morning to you, and thank you, I’m certain that I’ll need it. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I would have to check my schedule over with my assistant, but I would love to see the show with you. I’ll make sure to let you know soon if I am available. _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ Thank you, I appreciate that, I’ll have to talk to you more later sadly, I need to head to work. _

**_Alexandre:_ ** _ I need to go and face the music as well, I have some meetings that I would much prefer to spend talking with you instead. _

Despite his restlessness, at least he was in a good mood as he made his way over to the Blue Lions building. He would get there well before eight, but thankfully his keycard would also let him in before business hours much like his previous fob had. 

He was humming to himself as he got the elevator to the top floor, and gave a hearty  _ “good morning”  _ to Mr. Molinaro stood stoically near the exit, who only acknowledged it with the slightest tilt of his head. He stopped by the lunchroom to tuck his lunch into the communal fridge, and put the kettle on for tea. He opened his work phone to see that he already had a few emails, from both Mrs. Galatea and Mercedes.

Mrs. Galatea was just letting him know that she’d managed to clear most of the meetings of Mr. Blaiddyd and Mr. Fraldarius for at least a week, with the exception of one with Mr. von Riegan, but considering his own interactions with the man, Ferdinand didn’t worry too much about that meeting, especially if he was there to help mediate. For everything else though, Ferdinand could only hope that a week would be enough time to at least get the basics through to the both of them. 

He thanked Mrs. Galatea for that in a quick response, and moved on to the email from Mercedes. It was a simple email, just asking that Shamir, Catherine, and Ariana stop by the front desk to receive visitors' badges and keycards that will allow them access to where they need to be. Ferdinand thanked her for the information and made sure to text both Shamir and his mother about it before he became lost in his other work.

He grabbed his tea and headed into Mr. Blaiddyd’s office, humming once again as he went through the calendar on his tablet to look over Dimitri’s schedule and took a seat on one of the couches. He didn’t like to micromanage hours if he didn’t have to, but he made sure to log the time his mother should arrive, and was pleased to see that he was allowed to add events to Mr. Fraldarius’ and Mr. Gautier’s schedules as well. He blocked out time for them all to meet individually with the media managers, but his mother should have been able to handle both Mr. Fraldarius and Mr. Blaiddyd at the same time. Hopefully. He had to see how that would go today and would make changes accordingly.

When Dimitri joined him in the office not twenty minutes later, he looked shocked to see him there already. The dark circle under his eye looked much lighter than it had yesterday, he noted.

“Good morning,” Ferdinand sing-songed, “Catherine and Shamir should be here at nine, and Ariana around twelve thirty. Other than that your schedule is free aside from any emails and paperwork. So if you’d like to spend some time down in R&D you can probably squeeze in a few hours if you’d like.”

Mr. Blaiddyd remained frozen near the door like a deer in the headlights.

“You used to work down there didn’t you?” Ferdinand asked, and then continued when he didn't get an answer, “I’m sorry, I assumed you’d want to spend some time down there if you could.”

Ferdinand could see the tips of Mr. Blaiddyd’s ears turn bright pink. “I...Thank you, I appreciate it more than you know. I haven’t been able to go down there since I took my current position,” Dimitri said with such sincerity that Ferdinand’s heart ached for him. He even felt his own face begin to warm and Ferdinand hadn’t had this little control in front of an authority figure in an age. His mother would be disappointed in him.

“Well, it’s easier when there are hardly any meetings to work around. There’s a meeting with Mr. von Riegan that couldn’t be moved, but otherwise most of your correspondence will occur by email.”

“I see. Thank you, Mr. von Aegir.”

“Please, call me Ferdinand.”

“Only if you call me Dimitri. Mr. Blaiddyd had always been my uncle, or my father, it feels wrong to be called it.” The pink that had been on Mr. Blaid—Dimitri’s ears had spread to his cheeks. Ferdinand had never noticed how sharp his cheekbones were, had never looked closely. He could understand what his sisters had been saying about him—

Ferdinand stood abruptly, tucking his tablet under his arm and looking anywhere but at Dimitri’s face while he kept his own expression carefully controlled. “I can certainly do that Dimitri, if you’d prefer it. Now would you like a cup of tea before Shamir and Catherine arrive?” Ferdinand grabbed his own empty cup from the couch’s side table. “I could certainly use another cup,” he said, fleeing the room before he even heard a reply. His mother would be much more than disappointed with him. He could only hope that he got his act back together before she arrived.

  
Dimitri was at his ornate desk when he returned with the tea, already typing away at his keyboard with his eyes locked on the monitor. He didn’t even look when Ferdinand deposited the steaming cup of chamomile on his desk, but he did mumble out a  _ “thank you”  _ at least.

Ferdinand returned to his tablet, and got himself busy with things that Dimitri had forwarded him.

🜚↔🜠

Shamir knocked on the door to the office and walked in at exactly nine on the dot. She looked stern next to her wife, with her military cleanliness, posture and rigidity, and Ferdinand felt like she might order him to drop and give her twenty, like she had when he was younger. Catherine, on the other hand, had her hair up in an artfully messy ponytail, and was wearing the most casual of business wear as she strolled in with her hands on her hips.

Despite his minor fear of being ordered to do push-ups, Ferdinand couldn’t help but quip at them. “You waited outside with Mrs. Galatea until precisely nine, didn’t you?”

Shamir’s eyes darted straight to him, her eyebrow only twitching minutely. “Entrances are one of the best ways to make an impression. You should know that by now.” 

Ferdinand would be terrified if Catherine wasn’t standing next to her with a large grin on her face.

Shamir moved her attention onto the young CEO. “You must be Dimitri Blaiddyd, a pleasure to meet you. My name’s Shamir, and this is my wife Catherine. Do you have any social media, Dimitri?”

Straight to the point. That was one of Ferdinand’s favourite things about Shamir. Her no-nonsense demeanor would hopefully make this go a lot smoother than it would have if Ferdinand had tried to deal with it.

Dimitri didn’t seem to be scared of Shamir, which Ferdinand was a little worried about; he could only hope that it didn’t mean he would give Shamir any grief over her instructions. 

“I have both a Twitter and an Instagram account that Sylvain set me up with, but I rarely use them. We have someone that runs the company’s social media, so I don’t see the point of posting anything.”

Shamir nodded. “I want you to try posting once a day at least to both. Could be anything, but preferably inane things. A lot of average people want to see that you’re as down to Earth as they are, and you run a tech company – you should be able to handle navigating social media. Just try not to leak classified or personal information such as your addresses or phone numbers.”

“Seems pretty obvious,” Ferdinand couldn’t help but laugh.

Shamir glared at him until he fell silent. “You would think,” she said dryly, “I’ve seen people post anything from phone numbers and addresses, to credit card and social security numbers.”

Dimitri pulled out his own tablet and wrote down some notes as he nodded in agreeance to what she said.

Shamir procured a business card from one of the pockets on her pants and handed it to Dimitri. “If you’re uncertain about posting anything, send me a text or an email and I’ll help you out. We’ll need to get you verified on Twitter as well, so that people know you’re legit. Having a social media presence is important in this day and age.”

Catherine then stepped forward, taking over from her wife. Despite her casual looks, Ferdinand knew she was just as no nonsense as Shamir was, the only difference being instead of using her presence to make you listen, Catherine would put you in a headlock until you got it through your head. Ferdinand imagined that if he’d had an older sister, she would be like Catherine.

“So Shamir helps you mainly with the internet persona, and I help with the real life public persona. Setting up interviews, photoshoots, and directing paparazzi set ups to catch specific moments. Don’t worry though, I’ll walk you through every event beforehand step by step until you get the hang of it. Shamir helps me with wardrobe sometimes, because she thinks that I tend to go overboard. I’ll also be doing your makeup. Are you currently seeing anyone? Because if you are, they need to go through all of this well.”

Dimitri’s face immediately turned beet red and he glanced at Ferdinand for a moment before grabbing his tea cup and taking a large swallow before answering. “I’m not really seeing anyone currently.”

Catherine furrowed her brow “Not really? Is this a friends with benefits situation? Do you hire prostitutes? It’s better if you get all the dirty laundry out in the open so we know what to avoid.”

Dimitri sputtered at “ _ prostitutes”  _ and it took everything Ferdinand had to not laugh at Catherine’s bluntness.

“I’ve been talking to someone online, but they don’t know who I am yet. We’re just...talking, mostly.”

“Oh, one of  _ those _ situations. Alright, but you gotta let me know before you out yourself to them so that we can bring them into the loop.”

Ferdinand exhaled slowly. He hadn’t even realised he’d been holding his breath waiting for Dimitri’s answer. He wondered why Dimitri had been so hesitant to share about dating someone online; a lot of people dated online, and he was obviously not the only person worried about his identity on the site, seeing as Alexandre was still worried about showing himself, even though Ferdinand was near-certain there was nothing that could change his mind about how he felt about him. 

Dimitri kept glancing over at Ferdinand as Catherine went on asking him about things while Shamir typed out notes, like if he had a favourite magazine that he’d like to specifically do an interview or photoshoot for (anything with animals would be wonderful) or any fashion companies he’d make a deal with about wearing their clothes (were there any companies that made cloaks? He’d always wanted a cloak). 

Ferdinand wondered if there was something Dimitri wanted. Or expected him to say. He hadn’t the time to learn how to read Dimitri’s expressions yet. He excused himself to grab them all some tea when the questions about food started. Ferdinand didn’t want to feel hungry when lunch was still a couple of hours away. Especially since it looked like he would finally be meeting Alexandre soon.

When he returned, they had moved on to causes that Dimitri would like to be seen supporting, to which Dimitri replied that he already volunteered at a small animal shelter here in downtown on Thursdays, and did as much as he could for those from Duscur.

Ferdinand’s traitorous mind imagined Dimitri surrounded by dogs and cats alike and it made his insides feel like mush. Everything he had learned about Dimitri so far had made him seem like a wonderful person that Ferdinand would be proud to work for. He was nothing like Hubert “I grow poisonous plants in my office” von Vestra or Edelgard “the robot” von Hresvelg.

It took them just over two hours to go through all of the questions that the two media managers had. Dimitri looked slightly wrung out from all of it. Ferdinand was slightly ashamed to admit he had stopped paying attention in the second half, replying to emails and looking through the current projects instead.

“We’ll be contacting your office in the next couple of days to enquire about availability for some photo shoots first. They require a lot less talking and as such are the least likely to pose a problem. They might ask for a couple of quotes to go with it, but we’ll help you memorise some easy ones that will help curate the image we want for you to present,” Catherine said as they made their way out of the door. The two would be heading to Mr. Gautier’s office next, and Ferdinand winced as he could already hear Mrs. Galatea yell threats at him through the door. 

“I’d say that went pretty well,” Ferdinand said to Dimitri, who was taking a photo of his teacup at what could be considered an artful angle. Shamir did say to post inane things, he supposed– it was certainly better than a lot of things he could post.

“Would you prefer to eat or go down to R&D first? I dealt with most of the flagged emails while you were answering their questions and I do know that dealing with those two can take a lot out of you. We have just under an hour and half until Ariana gets here.”

“Food first, definitely. R&D on an empty stomach leads to odd results.” 

Ferdinand had difficulty imagining what that could even mean. “Odd results?”

“Hungry engineers try to create a affordable and marketable 3D printer that makes food, or robots that make you food.”

“And that’s a bad thing? That could revolutionise the food industry. I mean, I could see why a food 3D printer would be difficult to make affordable, but the cooking robot doesn’t seem too terrible.”

Dimitri only looked haunted as he said, “the robotics teams aren’t allowed to give the robots knives anymore.”

So they ate first. Ferdinand had his sandwich and chopped vegetables, and Dimitri had the most amazing-smelling container of something that Ferdinand had no clue what it was.

Dimitri looked embarrassed as he explained. “Dedue, or Mr. Molinaro, brings me my meals most days, claiming ‘ _ he made too much.’  _ I try to tell him that it’s fine, that I can get my own food, but he insists that it’s the least he do after having hired a Duscur man like him.”

“He must be incredibly grateful then,” Ferdinand said, before they spent the rest of the lunch in near silence. Ferdinand happily took the time to message Alexandre for a little bit, enquiring as to how his day was going and such. Alexandre was just on his lunch break too, so they chatted until he and Dimitri needed to get going if they wanted to spend a decent amount of time in R&D. He wondered if Dimitri had spent his lunch messaging the person he had mentioned earlier, as well.

The R&D floor was nothing like Ferdinand had ever seen. There were so many tools and devices around the room that he didn’t have a single clue as to what they could even do, and most, if not all surfaces were covered by some project or another. The people down here weren’t in suits, or even business casual clothing; instead they all wore jeans and mostly tight fitting tops, most likely to avoid getting caught in anything. 

As soon as they noticed Dimitri they all tried to drag him over to projects or diagram-covered whiteboards and get his opinion on what they were doing. Engineer Dimitri was most definitely a different man than CEO Dimitri, that much was obvious; the people down here really looked up to him and truly valued him. It was night and day compared to the Dimitri he had known so far, and Ferdinand felt truly lucky to see the facet of him. It really humanised his boss to see him pointing things out or smiling his approval.

Eventually though, they had to head back upstairs. Ferdinand’s mother would be arriving soon and while a public persona was important, most of Dimitri’s battles would be up here, behind closed doors with board members and executives who would much rather have one of their kind in his position rather than Dimitri.

They’d barely sat down when Ariana walked with poise into the room wearing a white pantsuit and four-inch heels. Her hair was slicked back into a low ponytail and Ferdinand still can hardly believe that his mother is nearing fifty at this point.

“Oh aren’t you just a doll,” she walked up to Dimitri and motioned for him to stand up, then immediately started spinning him around to look at him. “Ariana von Aegir, at your service. How is your range of vision?” She waved a hand to the right of his face. “Because that is an immediate weak spot dearie, never let anyone stand on this side of you if you can help it.” She patted his cheek on his blindside, shocking him slightly. She spun him around again, stopping him when his back was facing her and grabbed his shoulders, yanking them back. “Your posture is horrendous, slouching over like that will make you look smaller and weaker. Not that you are weak, these shoulders sure are  _ something _ , but body language is everything and people will misconstrue you as weak.

Ariana spun him back around and Ferdinand wished he could inconspicuously take a photo of the look on Dimitri’s face. That pout was something he wanted to memorialise forever, especially when Ariana gave him a patronising pat on the cheek, telling him to “ _ cheer up, dearie, it’s not going to be that bad. _ ” He looked like a lost puppy, or maybe closer to a floundering fish as his mother continued to talk with him.

Mr. Fraldarius stormed into the office a couple of minutes later, a hurricane of frustration. The scowl that Ferdinand had come to know him for graced his face, and his sword was hung at his hip once again. Ferdinand should have been terrified of what was to come, but he could only feel excitement welling up in him as the storm that was Mr. Fraldarius met the unshakable ground that was Ariana von Aegir. 

“Oh my,” was all Ferdinand heard her say as she encountered the CTO. It was the first time he’d ever heard his mother rendered speechless. “Well, I definitely see why you called me in here, Ferdie.”

Despite Mr. Fraldarius (Felix now, Ferdinand supposed, as he insisted as such), acting like this was the worst thing that could have happened to him, Ferdinand considered the two hours quite the success. 

His mother had managed to make Felix...well she didn’t make him smile, but he did stop scowling for a moment after she made a joke at Dimitri’s expense, which even Dimitri found to be quite impressive. Ariana hadn’t gotten him to budge an inch on him carrying a sword around, but just as Rome wasn’t built in a day neither could his mother build a businessman out of a swordsman in a day. Her work was cut out for her, but he might have been less likely to murder someone now. Maybe. Ariana was no therapist. He was at least aware of the cues he was giving off with his body language now.

Because Ferdinand had kept his eyes on the tablet and the emails, they were able to spend the last two hours of their day back down in R&D, where Ferdinand was shown several of the bots that Dimitri had personally made to help around the lab. 

🜚↔🜠

The next few weeks went much the same way. He would chat with Alexandre in the morning, before leaving for work while he read the paper. The morning would be for paperwork--sometimes with the company of Felix and Sylvain--and a short perusal of R&D before lunch, where he would chat with Alexandre again. Then with the afternoon came Ariana, and either more time in R&D or getting whisked away by Shamir and Catherine for something or other. Ferdinand usually remained at the office those days, reading through Dimitri’s paperwork and getting the cliffnotes done up so that Mrs. Galatea–nowIngrid could spend her time on the items that she should be working on.

Ferdinand could easily say he loved his new job. He loved finally having his evenings free and being able to develop a life outside of work. He worked for a company with values he believed in, and his boss turned out not to be the somewhat frightening man he had originally thought he might be. In Felix’s words, Dimitri was just a giant nerd in a monkey suit, and while he found the way it was said to be quite harsh, Ferdinand understood the sentiment behind it. It was refreshing to not work with money-starved men trying to find ways to fill their wallets further in whichever selfish way they could.

And now he was finally going to meet Alexandre. 

The stairs to the box seats were guarded, but Ferdinand had already alerted them that someone by the name of Alexandre would be asking after him. He had arrived nearly an hour before curtain call, spending the first half hour roaming the areas he was allowed to, recalling with fondness all the times he’d come with his mother, then, with his mother and sisters once they were old enough to enjoy it themselves. 

A half hour to curtain call Ferdinand had been messaged by Alexandre apologising profusely that he would be at most fifteen minutes late, but that he promised he would be there. Taking his seat at the box, he ordered a bottle of wine to help with the nerves. He managed to drink two glasses before curtain call, and decided to pace himself for the rest. Ferdinand didn’t want anything to ruin either his opening night viewing of his favourite opera, or his first real date with Alexandre.

Ferdinand was enthralled immediately by the first notes of music, offering up a story of love and tragedy. The lead was stunning from the first note. The playbook told him her name was Dorothea and she was a jewel up on the stage. Her voice carried through the opera house like it had been made for her alone. Ferdinand was so entranced by the show that he didn’t notice the rustling of the curtain behind him, nor the shifting of the other box seat. A gentle arm on his shoulder let him know that Alexandre was finally here, but he didn’t try and look at him through the dark, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to make anything out until intermission. 

Though he wished for the first act to never end, Ferdinand was infinitely glad to be able to look beside to his beloved--

“Dimitri? Why are you here? Is this a joke?”

“I have much to explain, but--”

“You’re Alexandre?” Realisation dawned on Ferdinand. “You knew who I was this whole time? The day Mercedes interviewed me, you  _ knew _ who I was? That’s why you would never show me your face! Goddess, I’ve been made a fool of, haven’t I?” Ferdinand buried his face in his hands to hide the tears he could feel brimming over. “Is that why you hired me? To lord your position over me when I found out?”

“I had nothing to do with you being hired. That was all Mercedes.”

“And you didn’t think to let her know that there might be a conflict of interest?” Ferdinand knew his voice was growing to volumes that other people would be able to hear, but he just couldn’t find it in him to care about his or Dimitri’s image. “Didn’t think to mention to her ‘oh I don’t know if we should hire the man I was talking to on a dating site?” 

Ferdinand took his wine glass and threw its contents at Dimitri, staining his white button up a blotchy purple before smashing the glass on the ground. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he’d have to make a large donation to the Mittlefrank Opera when he was feeling rational again. He stood to run away from his embarrassing outburst, but Dimitri grabbed his wrist.

“Please, stay, just let me explain.”

“Fuck you,” Ferdinand said with as much vitriol as he could. Considering that his voice broke halfway through the  _ you _ he wasn’t sure if he managed it, but Dimitri let go of his wrist anyways. Knowing he was too incapacitated to drive, Ferdinand took a cab home and spent the entirety of it texting Lorenz and cursing him for ever getting him to sign up for online dating, then shutting it off.

🜚↔🜠

Sunday morning brought with it a massive headache and memories of the shitshow that had been the previous night. He pulled the covers back over his head and tried to fall back asleep but years of being an early riser and the need to grab some sort of painkiller and water dragged him out of bed. He hadn’t washed his face nor brushed his hair before passing out in his bed last night and Ferdinand could truly say he hasn’t looked this bad since his first years at Adrestia Corp. 

He decided that his headache took precedence, so Ferdinand left his ensuite and put his hair in a quick messy bun. He pulled off the clothes he had fallen asleep in the previous night and threw them on the floor to pick up later before grabbing his stretchiest pair of leggings and an old t-shirt from a tourist trap in Derdriu. He dragged himself to the kitchen to chug a glass of water with a painkiller after staring at his bed longingly, and winced when he saw his phone sitting turned off on the table. He knew he’d have to face the music eventually, so he powered it on while he brewed himself some tea, watching the kettle slowly come to a boil like it was the most interesting thing in the world. 

When he finally looked at his notifications he wanted to shut the whole thing off again, but he knew that ignoring most of them meant they would come to his condo and try and  _ talk _ and that sounded much worse than typing out some messages of reassurance.

Most of his family had sent something similar. Asking if he had read the news yet and if he was ok. He was mostly honest with them, telling them that he would be fine, but he didn’t want to talk about it. 

Lorenz was the hardest to read. He apologised that his actions had put him in this situation and that he had just wanted Ferdinand to be happy, and asked for him to call him when he was ready to talk about it. He replied with a quick ‘ _ thank you _ ’ and left it at that, knowing his oldest friend would understand it for what it was.

There were several messages from Catherine and Shamir, trying to figure out the situation so they could give something to the press. Ferdinand had forgotten that they'd been watching Dimitri's every move but Ferdinand really didn’t want to deal with that and ignored the two media media managers. They didn’t know where he lived and knew it would take some time for them to figure it out.

Worst of all were the messages from  _ Alexandre _ – or Dimitri. Alexandre was apparently his middle name, a quick search returned. They were apologies, mostly, even though Ferdinand was the one that should have been apologising. Dimitri had apparently wanted to tell him his first day with the disastrous meeting, but had panicked because he’d realised that the conversations he’d had as Alexandre were some of the most genuine he’d had in ages.

Ferdinand didn’t want to deal with it. Not yet. Maybe in a couple of days when he had time to process everything, he could message Dimitri back, but not right now.

Grabbing his work phone, he emailed both Mercedes and Ingrid, telling them that he needed to take some personal days and that he’d update them on Wednesday if he needed more, before turning that phone off.

He left his phone in the kitchen before taking his teapot and cup and making his way to the bathroom for a much needed bath.

🜚↔🜠

It took until Wednesday and many long hours of riding through trails with just Astoria before he messaged Dimitri. 

Dimitri, who had sent him flowers Monday, pastries on Tuesday, and chocolates this morning, all with apologetic notes in that blasted beautiful handwriting he’d had him write  _ ‘Earl Grey Tea’  _ in.

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I would have preferred you tell me as soon as possible, because now it looks like we’ve engaged in blatant nepotism. Which mars most corporations, I know, but I can’t engage in it. I quit my last job over it, and I’ll quit this one over it. These conversations we’ve had have brought the light into my life again, and despite how I reacted on Saturday, I’d be willing to give you a chance if you let me quit as your assistant. Catherine and Shamir won’t stop helping you with the media, and Ariana wouldn’t stop helping you either. _

Dimitri managed to message him back immediately. He wondered if he was getting anything done.

**_Dimitri:_ ** _ You were such a blessing to have at work. As much as I would regret losing your help in the office, I would regret more than anything losing you as the man I’ve come to think of as someone I could see being my partner. If you are willing to take me in any capacity I would be immensely glad. _

Ferdinand couldn’t help but smile. 

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ You are such a Drama King. Seriously, have you considered the performing arts? You would make a wonderful King or Knight actor, with your formal language and your gallantry.  _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I promised Ingrid and Mercedes that I would message them today to update them, so I’ll tell them that I will sadly not be returning to the position. _

**_Dimitri:_ ** _ Hmm, would it be too late to quit my job and take on an acting career? It sounds much less stressful. I kid of course. You will be sorely missed here in the office. Despite what he might say or do, even Felix liked you.  _

🜚↔🜠

_ Eight months later _

🜚↔🜠

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I’m out in the fields watching the colts, you’ll have to come find me. _

**_Dimitri:_ ** _ There’s a lot of fields at the Rescue darling. It’ll be ages before I can find you _

**_Ferdinand:_ ** _ I can see the east side of the stables from here, I’m sure you can see me just fine if you look out west. I’m wearing buffalo plaid, sweetheart I’m hardly hiding from you. _

Dimitri crested the hill only several minutes later, making his way over to join Ferdinand in leaning against the fence where he is watching several colts run and play within a fenced off area. A couple of the older ones lay in some shade made by some tall pine trees.

“Did you seriously come here wearing a turtleneck and slacks? How am I supposed to convince you to muck out the stalls now?” Ferdinand reached up and kissed Dimitri on the cheek and Ferdinand always loved how even the smallest bits of affection turned his cheeks pink. 

“You have other volunteers for that, don’t you?”

“Oh but think of how much we’d get in donations if we posted a picture of you on Instagram mucking out stalls,” Ferdinand chuckled.

“I think between yourself and I this place will run for many, many years and you can spend all your time neglecting your boyfriend to tend to horses,” Dimitri teased in return.

“Well I’d say they’re much better companions, sorry Dimitri, I’m leaving you for the hors--” Ferdinand got cut off by Dimitri tackling him to the grass, knocking Ferdinand’s hat and leaving both breathless and laughing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please make sure you give OngakuBeat a follow at http://twitter.com/BeaRdezF!
> 
> I'm sorry if the end feels rushed, I might go through and add some scenes at some point but I can truly say that I am happy with how it all turned out <3


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